The seven-stage process of Southern Fried Chicken Portions starts right from the farm where the fresh chicken is tumbled in a special savoury brine to create a base for the unique flavour. From there, the chicken is coated in a light home-style batter using specialized equipment for an even coating and home-made feel. We flash-fry the chicken to seal the coating, and then the magic happens in the Cookstar,our cutting-edge, world-class oven. The chicken is cooked in several stages using a combination of steam and convection to create the chicken’s incredible moistness. Our Cookstar achieves a succulent and flavourful chicken on the inside with a crispy outside coating. It is then packaged and flash frozen for transport to Woolworths fridges. After 20 mins in an oven or even less in an airfryer, the result is flavourful, tender, chicken drums and thighs with a southern fried taste ready to enjoy.

Our core production team at Finlar collectively has over 150 years of coating experience which gives us the confidence to develop gourmet products for discerning customers. Being obsessed with creating world-class products for Woolworths, our team found that the quality of Southern Fried Chicken was enhanced when the chicken was portioned, as opposed to being cooked whole like the M&S product. This allowed for better coating adhesion and the infusion of flavours. We also found that gently cooking and coating the chicken in multiple stages enhanced the texture and locked-in the taste.

Lize Moolman, new product development manager, explains the product’s novelty: “First, the equipment used to produce Southern Fried Chicken Portions is world class and we follow a strict scientific process. There are many variables that need to be balanced to get the perfect quality and organoleptic characteristics (i.e., the product must delight all the senses – taste, visual, feel, smell). Second, the functionality of the ingredients used in this product has been mastered to achieve perfection after multiple trials.”