Gami Chicken & Beer tipped to open 45 Aussie stores by 2020

BACK in 2006, four best mates decided to open a fast food restaurant. Now it’s taken over the country — and made them rich.

IN THE mid ’90s, four uni mates made a promise after downing a few beers to go into business together in 10 years’ time.

A decade later, the first Gami Chicken & Beer opened in Melbourne’s Carnegie.

And today, it’s clear Aussies just can’t get enough of the eatery, which was the first to bring the Korean fried chicken craze Down Under.

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The chain is on track to rake in a whopping $24.8 million this year — a figure set to soar to $40 million in 2019.

And by 2020, there will be 45 Gami outlets across the country.

It’s been a remarkable ride for founders Jun Lee, Roi Yoon, Max Ji and Ayden Jung, who met at Melbourne’s Monash University as recently-arrived Korean international students.

Gami’s marketing director and co-founder Jun Lee told news.com.au the company’s revenue had more than doubled in the past 12 months alone, a feat all the more surprising given the tough franchise environment in Australia at the moment.

Gami Chicken & Beer's revenue has more than doubled in the past 12 months alone. Picture: Supplied

“We were uni students when we met and we were in our second year at Monash having beers one day and worrying about what we were going to do,” he said.

“We had a passion for food but we were studying business and IT which didn’t really align.

“We started talking about how great it would be if in 10 years’ time after graduation we did something together.”

At another catch up over beers a few years later, they decided to stick to their promise, and narrowed down their business idea to be centred around Korean food.

Gami Chicken & Beer co-founder Jun Lee said the multimillion-dollar business was born over a few beers with mates. Picture: Supplied

Deciding to steer clear of Korean barbecue, which had already flooded the market, the group eventually settled on Korean fried chicken, because while it was a unique, niche concept in Australia, it had already existed in Korea for decades.

“It had already proven popular and we knew it wasn’t going to fade away like a quick trend,” Mr Lee said.

The group used their own savings to launch their first humble restaurant, initially relying on word of mouth to attract customers.

They settled on the name “Gami”, because it means “beautiful taste” in Korean — something they wanted to create for their customers.

“When we started we were so happy to be doing something together — we were good mates and we were excited, so every day was like a holiday,” Mr Lee said.

“When we had no customers we were drinking ourselves, and when we had customers we were super excited so people could see these four mates who were crazy happy with good food.”

Eventually word spread, and they opened their next store three years later in Melbourne’s Healey Lane, with a third on Little Lonsdale Street launching in 2010.

Since then, the Korean fried chicken concept has well and truly caught on in Australia, with a range of competitors springing up over the years.

But Mr Lee said the secret to Gami’s unique success was keeping the concept simple but doing it well, growing the business organically over time rather than launching new stores “overnight”, using good quality ingredients and using local supply chains.

He said the Australian market was also “very receptive” to new food trends, which meant it was embraced from very early on.

But while Gami Chicken & Beer goes from strength to strength, other Aussie franchises haven’t been so lucky.

Earlier this month, popular chocolate chain Max Brenner announced it had gone into voluntary administration and would close most Australian stores, while Retail Food Group, which includes Gloria Jean’s and Donut King, will shut 250 stores across the country following its $307 million loss announced in August.

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