1986

From a young Portuguese backpacker to creating a $200 multi-million-dollar franchise, Antonio Ferraz Cerqueira is the embodiment of a migrant success story.

As a young man, Cerqueira’s working holiday in Australia became a life-long journey when he met the love of his life, Adelina, in Wollongong. He stayed in Australia, married Adelina, and they had three children, Renee, Ricardo and Rodrigo.

Even though Cerqueira left his native country aged 18, he did not leave his roots behind. Raised on a farm that produced grapes, olives and a variety of fruit, Cerqueira helped his Familia at harvest time and always wanted to be in the food business. After working various jobs in his first 10 years in Australia, Cerqueira realized his dream and opened his first chicken shop at North Bondi bus interchange in 1986.

His first shop was called “Portuguese-Style Bondi Charcoal Chicken”. Chicken made with a passion for food combined with the magic of traditional Portuguese cooking. Along with his wife, who is also Portuguese, Cerqueira adopted a chilli sauce know as piri-piri to create a unique taste for Australian palates. This coupled with flattened chicken, marinated for at least two hours, then chargrilled, proved to be an irresistible combination for locals who were soon queuing out the door to get their hands on what has become the signature Bondi Burger.

The shop thrived and Cerqueira decided to rename it OPORTO in honour of his favourite football team - FC Porto. In 1995, Cerqueria signed a partnership deal with entrepreneur Gary Linz which allowed him to expand beyond Bondi. One store quickly became two, then five, then fourteen. The pair turned Oporto into a successful chain of 100 franchises before selling the Franchise to a private equity firm in 2007 for a reported $60 million.

Courtesy Antonio Cerqueira.