Mohamad El Halwani (AKA Manager Mo) is getting into the holiday spirit. Photo: Supplied.
Wagga’s homegrown Middle Eastern food brand, Habibi Chicken, is embracing the Christmas Spirit and calling on the community to help them ‘pay it forward’ again this holiday season.
Founder Mariam Habibi said the idea began in December last year when they asked locals to nominate families in need of some Christmas cheer.
“We were all noticing the severe effects of the rising costs within the Wagga community and so we put it out there and asked – hey, do you know 10 families that really deserve some support during Christmastime,” she said.
“It just went berserk! We got so many people who were nominated, and then on Christmas Day, we went out and did deliveries.”
To Mariam’s surprise, they not only received a flood of nominations but many customers asked to contribute.
“People came and asked us – hey, we don’t have anyone to nominate, but we would really love to donate so that you guys can pay it forward,” she said.
“We realised that we can make much more impact than just helping 10 families, so this year we put $1000 behind it and we’re hoping that anyone else who wants to assist will help pay it forward to families this Christmas.”
From the start, Habibi Chicken has operated on a community-first model, and Mariam explained that business should be about more than just the bottom line.
“Businesses now need to really think about the people that we’re serving as well as the community,” she said.
“Obviously, it’s a tough time for the hospitality industry but we think that we should have a bit more responsibility and accountability to do good, and this is just one small way we can do it.”
Mariam and the team have big ambitions for their Wagga food brand and will maintain the same philosophy as they continue to expand.
The Habibi team is putting the finishing touches on the new Melbourne store. Photo: Supplied.
They are in the final stages of completing their second store in Melbourne, Habibi Chicken Preston, with the aim of opening on Boxing Day.
“We just recently put the exterior signage up, we have engineers working inside to get the fit-out finalised and we are going through the interview process to get our team sorted.”
The new shop proudly spruiks its Riverina origins. The sign in the window reads “Born in Wagga Wagga, Australian Owned, Made With Love”.
Most of the produce for the new store will be delivered from the Wagga distribution centre and Mariam said it was exciting to bring their Melbourne manager to Wagga for training.
“Our vision was to really grow the local economy here with what we do as much as we can so it was so nice to see him come to Wagga for training,” she said.
If you would like to help Habibi Chicken to pay it forward and support struggling families this Christmas, you can either donate or nominate through their website.
Loading ...
