Chicken chain takes on Southern fryers
Sat, 15 Sep 2007 09:41:16 GMTBy DANIEL YEE, Associated Press Writer
HIRAM, Ga. - Robert Bowman loves his chicken, especially when it's breaded and loaded in a fryer. "When I go on a trip, that's all I'll eat is fried chicken. I just like fried chicken," the 67-year-old retired postal worker says.
But during a recent lunch at a restaurant near his home, the poultry on Bowman's plate was prepared differently from the Southern style he was used to. Instead of being fried, it was grilled and marinated with citrus, herbs and spices.
It's part of a move by a California-based fast food chain to sell Mexican-style grilled chicken deep inside the deep-fried South and begin expanding beyond its West Coast markets.
"We're giving the South, which loves its chicken, a healthy, wholesome alternative to fried chicken," said Steve Carley, CEO of Irvine, Calif.-based El Pollo Loco Inc. .
The suburban Atlanta restaurant, which opened at the end of August, is the first Southern location for the chain, which is ranked 70th in the nation's list of top restaurant chains based on sales according to Restaurants & Institutions magazine.
Last month, the privately held company of 340 restaurants reported a net income of $1.59 million for the 26 weeks ended June 30, a 26.4 percent increase over the $1.26 million in net income it reported for the same period a year ago. The company was purchased in November 2005 by affiliates of the New York-based equity investment firm Trimaran Capital L.L.C. and company management.
El Pollo Loco is under contract with a company led by a former Church's Chicken executive to open 50 restaurants in the Atlanta area in the next six years. The chain also plans to open restaurants in the Orlando and Tampa, Fla., areas, in Charlotte, N.C., and in Norfolk, Va.
"We think the South is ready for El Pollo Loco," Carley said. "We have a high level of confidence this is going to be a big winner."
Although grilled chicken is not new to the South — it's often found on backyard grills, a labor of love for weekend chefs — it's not the traditional focus of Southern palates, said John T. Edge, director of the University of Mississippi's Southern Foodways Alliance.
"We tend to argue about the foods to which we are devoted — fried chicken and barbecue," Edge said. "Nobody's fussing and fighting over grilled chicken in the South."
Indeed, the South's chicken wars tend to be of the fried variety. Some of the nation's Top 100 restaurant chains built upon their success serving up fried chicken in the South, including Louisville, Ky.-based KFC, which is part of Yum Brands Inc., the Atlanta-based chains Chick-fil-A and Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits, San Antonio-based Church's Chicken, Charlotte, N.C.-based Bojangles' Restaurants Inc. and Athens, Ga.-based Zaxby's.
"The heaviest weighting of our outlets are in the South, testimony to the fact that fried chicken is a Southern staple," said Kirk Waisner, vice president of menu development for Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits.
Most of the country's "major chicken players" in the $15.1 billion industry of limited service chicken chains — which includes fried chicken outlets — are based in the South, said Darren Tristano, executive vice president of the Chicago-based Technomic, Inc., a research and consulting firm that serves the food industry.
If successful, El Pollo Loco's move into the heavily competitive Southern market gives the company a good chance to become a national chain instead of remaining a regional West Coast brand, Tristano said.
"The more they are able to grow in larger cities in the East, the stronger their brand is, which allows them to leverage their advertising, marketing and customer loyalty as their brand grows," he said.
Once in the South, Carley said, the chain will stick to its roots, meaning fried chicken won't be served anytime soon. Instead, the chain is banking on the view that offering grilled chicken instead of fried food will be attractive in a region that struggles with obesity.
Last month Mississippi was named the first state to pass the 30 percent mark of adults considered obese, with Alabama and West Virginia not far behind, according to the Trust for America's Health, a research group that focuses on disease prevention.
"Everybody I think needs to change their eating habits," said Kimberly Newkirk, a 38-year-old nurse from Dallas, Ga., who came to El Pollo Loco at a friend's recommendation.
Chris Elliott is a former Church's Chicken COO and the CEO of Fiesta Brands, Inc., which has contracted with El Pollo Loco to open the 50 new restaurants. He said grilling the chicken provides "healthy overtones."
"For the same size chicken breast if you fry one versus grill it, it's about 300 calories difference," he said.
El Pollo Loco's plan of attack also includes a year's worth of marketing to people who live within a few miles of a store, including offers to try the chicken for free. In addition to Hiram, the chain initially will focus on suburban Atlanta. It January the company plans to open a restaurant inside the city.
"We know we do have to work to get in people's considerations, we have to change their routines," Carley said.
Bowman said he's not sure all lovers of fried chicken will turn to the grilled variety. But he hopes many will at least try it.
"That's the way Southerners are — a bunch of them will stick to fried chicken," Bowman said. "But when something new comes to them, they'll get used to it."
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On the Net:
El Pollo Loco: http://www.elpolloloco.com/
ER kiosks let patients avoid long lines
Fri, 14 Sep 2007 23:51:56 GMTBy JAMIE STENGLE, Associated Press Writer
DALLAS - An emergency room might be the last place you'd think would have do-it-yourself check-in. But Parkland Memorial Hospital has three self-service computer kiosks, similar to those used by airport passengers and hotel guests. And so do a handful of other hospital ERs, where the long wait in line to register and explain symptoms can be grueling.
True emergency cases — gunshot or car crash victims with serious injuries — are still rushed in for treatment. But patients like Rickey Washington, a diabetic concerned about numbness in his hands and feet, find it fairly simple to sign in by computer.
"Once you look and see, it's kind of easy," said Washington, 44.
Besides offering patients more privacy, the kiosks should help nurses identify the most urgent cases. Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in New Jersey plans to install check-in kiosks in its ER within the next couple months.
"Patients don't always know if their symptom is potentially bad or serious," said Dr. Marc Borenstein, chairman and residency program director for the department of emergency medicine at Beth Israel.
Parkland's administrators say patients have been spared the long check-in lines since the kiosks arrived. The hospital's ER handles about 300 cases a day.
"It's helping us find the people that we need to see right now," said Jennifer Hay, unit manager for the ER department.
Patients spend about eight minutes at the kiosks, using touchscreens to enter their name, age, and other personal information. The computer shows the patient a list of ailments to choose from, like "pain" or "fever and/or chills" and a list of body parts to indicate where it hurts.
Previously, a nurse checked in patients and took their vital signs as lines at the ER got longer and frustration mounted.
"If it's getting people to be able to sit down and not be in a long line, then it's good," said Dr. Brian Keaton, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians.
Once the patient's problem is entered into the system, it pops up on a screen accessible to the nurses. Those with chest pains, stroke symptoms or other worrisome complaints take priority. But for patients with lesser complaints, even computer kiosks can't eliminate the "wait" from ER waiting rooms. It still often takes a couple of hours for a nurse to check their vital signs, and several more to see a doctor.
John Lovelock, research director for industry research firm Gartner Inc., said patients may initially hesitate to use the kiosks, but repeat customers realize they're saving time.
"I think the public is absolutely ready for this," he said.
One family practice and urgent care center in Cookeville, Tenn., has used computer kiosks and hand-held electronic devices to get patient information since opening just over a year ago, said Kara Hufstedler, a systems manager for Satellite Med.
"We had some people who loved it. We had some people who didn't. The staff helps anyone who needs it," she said.
Brandie Glover, 27, of Dallas, said she first thought the kiosks at Parkland were "weird."
"I thought it was kind of impersonal, but at the same time, it's a quicker process," said Glover, who came to the ER with neck and ear pain. But after waiting for more than three hours without seeing a doctor, Glover decided to leave without getting treated.
Hays said that shortening the check-in time only addresses part of the problem. Like other hospitals, she said, Parkland is also trying to find ways to improve the overall wait time in its emergency room.
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Parkland Memorial Hospital: http://www.parklandhospital.com
WHO Cholera cases in Iraq keep rising
Fri, 14 Sep 2007 23:52:23 GMTBAGHDAD - The number of suspected cholera cases in northern Iraq continues to rise, with 16,000 people now showing symptoms, the World Health Organization said Friday.
As of Sept. 10, 6,000 have been reported with symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting in the province of Sulaimaniyah, another 7,000 in Tamim province, and 3,000 in Irbil province, the WHO said in a statement.
To date 10 people have died and 844 cases of the disease have been confirmed, the WHO said.
Earlier in the week, regional authorities reported 11,000 people with symptoms, 700 confirmed cases and 10 deaths.
Cholera is a gastrointestinal disease that is typically spread by drinking contaminated water and can cause severe diarrhea that in extreme cases can lead to fatal dehydration. It broke out in mid-August and has so far been limited to northern Iraq.
The WHO reported earlier this week that all public water supply systems in the affected districts have been chlorinated by provincial authorities in an attempt to stop the disease from spreading further.
