Chiko Roll facts for kids
A Chiko Roll in bag.
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| Place of origin | Australia |
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| Region or state | New South Wales, Victoria |
| Created by | Frank McEncroe |
The Chiko Roll is a popular savoury snack from Australia. It was created by Frank McEncroe. He got the idea from Chinese spring rolls. The first Chiko Roll was sold in 1951. It was originally called the "Chicken Roll," even though it never had chicken in it! This snack was made so people could easily eat it while walking around, without needing a plate or fork. Since 1995, a company called Simplot Australia has been making Chiko Rolls.
A Chiko Roll is filled mostly with cabbage and barley. It also has carrot, green beans, beef, beef fat (called tallow), wheat cereal, celery, and onion. The ingredients are partly mashed up. They are wrapped in a thick pastry made from egg and flour. This strong pastry helps the roll stay together, even when people are eating it at busy places like football games. Chiko Rolls are usually cooked by deep-frying them in vegetable oil. From 2017 to 2022, Simplot Australia also sold a vegetarian Chiko Roll. It did not have any beef or beef tallow. However, this vegetarian version was stopped in early 2023 because it did not sell well.
Chiko Rolls were very popular in the 1960s and 1970s. At that time, about 40 million Chiko Rolls were sold in Australia every year. Many people see the Chiko Roll as a special part of Australian culture.
The Chiko brand also makes other snacks today. These include Corn Jacks, Hawaiian and Supreme pizza subs, Spudsters, onion rings, fish cakes, and vegetable nuggets.
Contents
How the Chiko Roll Began
The Idea Behind the Snack
The Chiko Roll was invented by Frank McEncroe. He was a boilermaker from Bendigo, Victoria. Later, he started a business selling food at football games and other outdoor events. In 1950, Frank saw someone selling Chinese chop suey rolls outside a sports ground. He decided he wanted to make a similar snack for his own business.
Frank thought the Chinese rolls were too thin and easily fell apart. He wanted to create a much bigger and stronger roll. This new roll would be a quick, filling meal that was easy to hold. This idea led to the Chiko Roll. It was first introduced at the Wagga Wagga Agriculture Show in 1951.
Growing Popularity
In the 1960s, Frank McEncroe moved to Melbourne with his family. There, he started making the rolls using a special machine that was adapted from a sausage maker. As the Chiko Roll became more popular, Frank moved his production to a bigger factory. He later joined his business with another company to form Frozen Food Industries Pty Ltd. This new company became public in 1963.
By 1965, many takeaway food shops in Australia, especially fish and chip shops, were selling Chiko Rolls. The marketing slogan "Grab a Chiko" showed how easy it was for shop owners to prepare them. They could just take a Chiko Roll from the freezer, fry it, and put it into its special bag.
At its most popular time in the 1970s, 40 million Chiko Rolls were sold across Australia each year. More than one million were also sent to Japan.
Chiko Rolls Today
Since 1995, the Chiko brand has been owned by Simplot Australia. Chiko Rolls are now made in Bathurst, New South Wales. They use a special machine that creates the pastry and filling at the same time in long rolls. These long rolls are then automatically sliced. Finally, the unique ends of the Chiko Roll are folded.
In recent years, there are many more types of takeaway food available in Australia. This has led to fewer Chiko Rolls being sold. In 2011, about 17 million Chiko Rolls were sold each year.
In September 2016, there was a friendly disagreement in the Parliament of Australia about where the Chiko Roll came from. Three politicians, Andrew Gee, Lisa Chesters, and Michael McCormack, all said the snack started in their hometowns.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Chiko Roll, the company that makes them gave gold-plated models to the cities of Bendigo and Wagga Wagga.
As mentioned earlier, the vegetarian Chiko Roll was only available for a short time in Victoria and Tasmania. It was stopped by the company in 2023 because not enough people bought it.
The Chiko Chick
Since the 1950s, Chiko Rolls have been advertised with a character called the "Chiko Chick." This character was often a woman on a motorbike. The slogan used to be "Couldn't you go a Chiko Roll?". In the early 1980s, a different slogan was used: "You can't knock the roll."
In 2008, the company started looking for a new "Chiko Chick." They wanted a more friendly and natural "girl next door" image, rather than the older, more daring look. In July 2008, the new advertising poster was shown at the Wagga Wagga Showgrounds. It featured Annette Melton as the new face of the Chiko Roll.
