CHICPICADO since 2025

Hey yo! This is Ahmed Ibrahim, the founder of Chicpicado.

Whoever is reading this, this is me, Ahmed, talking to you right now. If you are expecting some formal ChatGPT stuff, you can skip the rest of this story. So let's jump right into it. I am a criminology graduate. I completed my course at Middlesex Uni, UK. I was really into crime investigation stuff and really wanted to be a detective. But then, within a short period of time, I understood that the UK was not my kind of place to get settled. So as soon as I graduated, I ran away from the UK with the certificates.

I came back to Calicut, which is my hometown, and Calicut is a place so close to my heart. I wanted to go home, spend time with my mum and dad, and chill with my dudes for few months. By that time, I was 25 years old and still dependent on my parents. There was also this girl whom I love, and I really wanted to get married to her—let's call her Ms. M for future reference. Since I wanted to marry her, I had very little time left.

So after a few months in Calicut, I went to Dubai in search of a job, but it was really hard to get into a government entity in a place like Dubai. So later on, after two months, I shifted to Qatar because Ms. M was also there. Since I wanted to work as a detective, I applied to Interpol, Qatar. But the job process was getting delayed, and a few months passed by. There was no response from their side, and I was running out of time. So I decided to come back to Calicut.

While I was at Hamad International Airport in Qatar, I was really tensed about our future. At that moment, the thought of starting a business in the F&B industry came into my mind. I drew up a plan in my head right there at the airport. The plan was simple, once I reached Calicut, I would start a business so that everything would go well and we could get married. So Ms. M and I started researching the F&B market. We found that there was no fast-food brand in India focusing purely on chicken tenders. When I shared my studies and ideas with Ms. M about how I could make this a huge fast-food chain in India, maybe even all over the world, she gave me a huge thumbs-up. As soon as I got a green flag from her, without thinking much, and with nothing to lose except her, I decided to move forward with starting a food chain focused on hot chicken tenders. Ms. M and I started planning how this brand should look in the coming years—logo design, brand vision, and everything else. She supported me in each and every step of planning and execution.

As the first step, I needed a space to kick off the food joint. I started going around Calicut Beach searching for the perfect spot, and I found one that fit my vision. But for some reason, I wasn't able to acquire that space. I was really sad and disappointed because I was back at zero. I then got into my car and drove from one end of Calicut Beach to the other, still searching for the right space. Finally, I found a great location and acquired it. Little did I know that when God took away the initial space—which I thought was the best—it was only to give me something a thousand times better. This space was beautifully situated, facing the beach. Once we acquired the space, the next step was designing the store. Ms. M and I came up with many ideas, but we weren't getting anywhere with the design. So we contacted our friend Pravin, who is an architect. After a lot of discussion, the three of us decided on a food truck design, which is very common in Western countries—and the cuisine we were serving was also Western. So we went ahead with the food truck concept.

The next challenge was operations. I had zero experience in the F&B industry. So I decided to partner with my dudes who had experience in this field. That's when Aman, Baha, and Haseeb came into the picture, and that's how they became my co-founders. I held the major stake in the brand and distributed the rest among my co-founders. Finally, I had a core team and a perfect blueprint for the brand. With this team effort, I was able to pull off Chicpicado. That's how Chicpicado was born on May 1st, 2025.

And I almost forgot to tell you, Ms. M is the one who named our brand Chicpicado. We feel incredibly proud when people talk about Chicpicado. Before the opening of our Calicut store, Chicpicado was a name known only to the two of us. Now, the whole city is talking about it, and that always gives us goosebumps. If it wasn't for her, there wouldn't be a Chicpicado.

So this is the story of CHICPICADO HOT CHICKEN JOINT.

I'm not sure if you guys made it till the end of this story, but if you did—thank you. I appreciate it.

So, that's it. Ma Salama!