St-Hubert sale flares frenzy of rotisserie-related tweets
Haydn Watters | CBC News | Posted: March 31, 2016 6:47 PM | Last Updated: March 31, 2016
Swiss Chalet owners Cara buying iconic Quebec chicken chain for $537M
News that Quebec's iconic rotisserie chicken chain, St-Hubert, is being sold to the company that owns Swiss Chalet has sparked a frenzy of reaction online.
Cara made the announcement Thursday morning, saying it had struck a $537 million deal to scoop up the 120 St-Hubert restaurants, as well as two food manufacturing plants, two distribution centres and the company's real estate portfolio.
- Swiss Chalet owners Cara buying St-Hubert for $537M
- St-Hubert sale sparks reaction from Quebec politicians
The result is a massive chicken conglomerate, run by Cara, which also own Harvey's, Kelsey's, East Side Mario's and New York Fires.
Soon after Cara crowed, St-Hubert started trending across the country on Twitter, prompting response from politicians, diehard St-Hubert fans and chicken enthusiasts in general.
The news hit some of the Twittersphere hard.
Quebecers were quick to point out their skepticism about the sale.
It even inspired some swiftly created editorial cartoons.
Terry Mosher. the political cartoonist who draws under the pen name Aislin for the Montreal Gazette, sketched up this illustration when he read about the deal Thursday morning.
There were a few jabs at the quality of St-Hubert.
That cooked up a spirited debate over which chain had the better sauce.
St-Hubert is known for its gravy sauce — it is sold in grocery stores and apparently also with boxed wine — but Swiss Chalet has its famed Chalet Sauce.
Several Twitter users found themselves embroiled in a war of the sauces.
Others didn't really see the difference.
The deal prompted hopes that St-Hubert would expand to other parts of the country.
Currently, there are a handful of St-Hubert locations outside of Quebec, including some in the Ottawa-area, one in Cornwall, Ont. and a few in New Brunswick.
Even St-Hubert's Twitter account helped stoke the wishful expansion thoughts.