Chiko Roll

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Australian savoury snack

title: "Chiko Roll" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["australian-snack-foods", "australian-brands", "chinese-australian-culture", "australian-rules-football-culture", "rugby-football-culture", "street-food", "australian-chinese-cuisine", "cuisine-of-victoria-(state)", "sports-culture-in-australia"] description: "Australian savoury snack" topic_path: "geography/australia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiko_Roll" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Australian savoury snack ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox food"]

FieldValue
imageChiko roll in bag handheld.jpg
captionA Chiko Roll in bag.
countryAustralia
regionBendigo, Victoria
creatorFrank McEncroe
::

| image = Chiko roll in bag handheld.jpg | caption = A Chiko Roll in bag. | country = Australia | region = Bendigo, Victoria | creator = Frank McEncroe The Chiko Roll is an Australian savoury snack invented by Frank McEncroe, inspired by the Chinese spring roll and first sold in 1951 as the "Chicken Roll" despite not actually containing chicken. The snack was designed to be easily eaten on the move without a plate or cutlery. Since 1995, Chiko Rolls have been made by Simplot Australia.

A Chiko Roll's filling is primarily cabbage and barley, as well as carrot, green beans, beef, beef tallow, wheat cereal, celery, and onion. The filling is partially pulped and enclosed in a thick egg and flour pastry tube, designed to survive handling at football matches. The roll is typically deep-fried in vegetable oil. Between 2017 and 2022, Simplot Australia sold a food-supply vegetarian Chiko Roll containing no beef or beef tallow; however, the product was discontinued in early 2023.

At the peak of its popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, 40 million Chiko Rolls were sold annually in Australia. The product has been described as an Australian cultural icon.

Other products currently available under the Chiko brand include Corn Jacks, Hawaiian and Supreme pizza subs, Spudsters, onion rings, fish cakes, and vegetable nuggets.

History

Development

The Chiko Roll was developed by Frank McEncroe, a boilermaker from Bendigo, Victoria, who turned to catering at football matches and other outdoor events.{{cite web |title = The Chiko Roll: aussie snack icon |url = http://www.wagga.nsw.gov.au/www/html/2443-the-gold-chiko-roll.asp |publisher = Museum of the Riverina |work = Wagga Wagga City Council |access-date = 25 July 2008 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080724080100/http://www.wagga.nsw.gov.au/www/html/2443-the-gold-chiko-roll.asp |archive-date = 24 July 2008 |df = dmy-all |title = Fun Facts |url = http://www.waggaguide.com.au/?id=funfacts |publisher = Wagga Wagga Guide |access-date = 3 April 2008

Popularity

In the 1960s, McEncroe moved to Melbourne with his family where he began to manufacture the rolls with the use of an adapted sausage machine. As the product became more popular, McEncroe moved his production to a larger factory in the suburb of Essendon. He later merged his business with a local company called Floyd's Iceworks to form Frozen Food Industries Pty Ltd. The new company went public in 1963. By 1965, many Australian takeaway restaurants, especially fish and chip shops, carried Chiko Rolls.

The marketing slogan "Grab a Chiko" signified the ease with which shop owners could take a Chiko Roll from the freezer and put it into a fryer, and slide it into its own trademarked bag. At the height of their popularity in the 1970s, 40 million Chiko Rolls were being sold Australia-wide each year and more than one million were exported to Japan.

Recent years

Since 1995, the Chiko brand has been owned by Simplot Australia. Chiko Rolls are now manufactured in Bathurst, New South Wales, on a specifically designed machine that produces the pastry and filling at the same time in long rolls. They are then automatically sliced and then the distinctive ends are folded.

Increasing competition in the Australian takeaway food market in recent decades has seen a decline in the profile of the Chiko Roll, with consumption down to 17 million per annum in 2011.

In September 2016 a disagreement in the Parliament of Australia over the origins of the Chiko Roll occurred. The Nationals' Member for Calare Andrew Gee, Labor’s Member for Bendigo Lisa Chesters and Member for Riverina Michael McCormack all claimed the snack originated in their respective hometowns.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Chiko Roll, the current manufacturer presented gold-plated replicas to Bendigo and Wagga Wagga cities.

The vegetarian Chiko Roll was only briefly available in Victoria and Tasmania, and was discontinued by the manufacturer in 2023 due to poor sales.

Chiko Chick

Since the 1950s, Chiko Rolls have been advertised featuring the "Chiko Chick" character, a seductive woman on a motorbike accompanied by the slogan "Couldn't you go a Chiko Roll?".{{cite web |title = The Chiko Roll |url = http://www.upfromaustralia.com/chikoroll.html |publisher = Up From Australia |access-date = 3 April 2008

In 2008, the company began a nationwide search for the new "Chiko Chick", hoping to downplay the traditionally raunchy look in favour of a more wholesome "girl next door" image. In July 2008, the new advertising poster was unveiled at the Wagga Wagga Showgrounds featuring Annette Melton as the new face.

References

Notes

References

  1. "Chiko Rolls".
  2. "Chiko Rolls {{!}} Products {{!}} Chiko".
  3. Noack, Georgina. (11 January 2023). "Rising prices of fish and chips at this Sydney takeaway shop declared 'un-Australian'". News.com.au.
  4. [http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,26278,23256892-5007192,00.html Chiko's search for roll model] {{webarchive. link. (25 February 2008 , news.com.au website.)
  5. link. (21 June 2009 , TV story from the [[Nine Network]]'s [[A Current Affair (Australian TV series)). A Current Affair]] news magazine program.
  6. [https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mcencroe-francis-gerald-frank-10946 McEncroe, Francis Gerard (Frank)] – David Dunstan, Australian Dictionary of Biography Online.
  7. "Chiko – Products".
  8. (2022-04-13). "The history of Chiko - Bidfood Australia".
  9. Pitt, Helen. (15 August 2012). "Farewell to surfie molls and panel vans". Fairfax.
  10. "Three regional MPs at war over the origin of the Chiko Roll". News.com.au.
  11. "The Gold Chiko Roll". Wagga City Council.
  12. "Chiko Roll History". True Blue Eating.
  13. link. (20 July 2008 , Simplot Australia website.)
  14. Davies, Laura. (18 July 2008). "Chiko chick is back". The Daily Advertiser.

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australian-snack-foodsaustralian-brandschinese-australian-cultureaustralian-rules-football-culturerugby-football-culturestreet-foodaustralian-chinese-cuisinecuisine-of-victoria-(state)sports-culture-in-australia