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From Seoul to Selfridges: Sofie Rooney’s journey bringing Korean fried chicken to the world
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Sofie Rooney turned a love for Korean fried chicken into a global sauce brand sold in almost 700 retailers across 12 countries. From a tiny Dublin kitchen to Selfridges shelves, here she shares how she built a business that blends bold flavours with smart, tech-driven growth.
Sofie Rooney is the co-founder of Chimac, the Irish food brand producing a range of restaurant-quality, Korean-inspired sauces now sold in 12 countries and over 700 retailers. Her journey began in 2016 with a trip to Seoul that sparked an obsession with Korean fried chicken. Alongside her husband and co-founder, Garret, Sofie transformed that passion into a thriving business, first opening a fried chicken eatery in Dublin 8, then pivoting into retail with an award-winning sauce range stocked in major outlets including Selfridges.
What started with frying chicken day and night in a tiny galley kitchen has grown into an internationally recognised brand, competing with global food giants while staying nimble and creative.
Here, Sofie shares the pivotal moments behind Chimac’s creation, how she and Garret balance romance with running a business, the role technology plays in scaling their operations, and what’s next for the brand.
Your journey into Korean fried chicken began with a trip to Seoul in 2016 that sparked Chimac. What were the pivotal moments, from inspiration to launch, when you and Garret decided to turn that experience into a business?
We’ve always loved hospitality. When we met, we both worked in restaurants, and even when we moved into other roles, we always spoke about food and restaurants, dreaming one day of opening our own. That first bite of fried chicken in Seoul was pretty incredible. So much so that we returned to one Chimaek shop three times in one day. The flavours and textures sparked something inside of us, and once we returned to Ireland, we couldn’t shake the feeling that it was something we needed to at least attempt to bring to life.
We researched and realised there was a genuine gap in the market. At the time, nothing but fast-food fried chicken existed in Ireland, yet globally in London, Paris and New York, fast-casual and high-end fried chicken restaurants were booming. It just made sense that this kind of concept needed a home in Dublin. And when we started cooking back in the house, with fryers full of chicken, pots of cheese sauce and gallons of gochujang, testing on family and friends, we realised we were onto something real.
You and Garret are both romantic and business partners – what’s the secret to making that work?
We’ve both learned to lean into our strengths and respect our differences. We have differing approaches and roles, but overall, we both believe in the business and are both incredibly driven and ambitious. We try to switch off, but honestly, we have not cracked it – setting boundaries is easier said than done! Running a business together is hard; every low moment is amplified as you simply can’t escape, but every win means so much more. Building a business from scratch is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it’s a lot easier when you genuinely like, respect, and admire the person you’re doing it with, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
At Chimac, you have pivoted from restaurant operations to bottling and selling your sauces and impressively scaling into export markets. What role did digital tools and agility play in making that possible?
We’re up against huge players with big budgets, so being agile and responsive is not an option; it’s a necessity. We’ve never had any boots on the ground or a proper sales team, so digital tools and social media have helped us so much. From sales outreach to stock management, rostering and planning, being online and being connected with our team is incredibly important.
As an existing Vodafone for Business customer, what are your favourite features they offer, and how do they support you specifically at Chimac? What business systems and tech infrastructure have become most critical to manage that growth?
We’re constantly juggling so much, but Vodafone’s mobile plans and broadband have allowed us to stay agile across locations, from our restaurant to our production facility in Tallaght to our customers in the UK, US and beyond. We also use cloud-based tools from our point of sale (Toast) to our accounting systems (Xero), design tools and order management systems. Vodafone’s coverage makes sure all those tools are always “on” and synced. It’s the backbone of how we communicate and grow.
Building a business from scratch is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it’s a lot easier when you genuinely like, respect and admire the person you’re doing it with.
Chimac sauces are now sold in 12 countries and almost 700 retailers and are featured in high-end outlets like Selfridges. How do you manage logistics, compliance and marketing across these diverse markets?
A lot of spreadsheets, a lot of phone calls, a small but very dedicated team and definitely not enough sleep! Managing this kind of scale means being super organised and using digital tools to simplify data, insights and planning. Understanding performance and opportunities means smarter decision-making, which is so critical for a small business.
Running restaurants and a sauce business during the current cost-of-living and inflation pressures must be challenging. How are you leveraging technology or digital systems to maintain quality and margins?
Last year, an Outmin and the Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) survey found that net profit margins among food-led hospitality businesses averaged just 0.8%. Every cent matters right now; price increases are not slowing down. We get them daily, not weekly. Small businesses cannot afford a CFO. We can’t control the market or the constant price increases. We can only control how quickly and wisely we react. Thankfully, there are a lot of people with hospitality backgrounds who really understand the challenges that the industry throws at us regularly. We’re beta testing two platforms currently that help hospitality companies better understand pricing, operations and costs and love being able to play a role in shaping the exact kind of tools that we want to use.
Looking ahead, what specific business tech tools, from cybersecurity to cloud productivity, do you feel are vital for supporting continued expansion and innovation at Chimac?
We rely so much on shared platforms to stay aligned as many of the team work remotely, partially or else in different locations. Whether we’re launching a new sauce, planning a festival activation or developing creative, digital tools that help us scale smartly and efficiently, while staying secure and collaborative, will be vital. There are not enough hours in the day, so using the right tools makes a huge difference.
You wear multiple hats – overseeing operations, marketing strategy, and restaurant management. How does tech help you manage your time, collaboration and workflow effectively?
I live on Notion to keep tasks and timelines on track. We use shared calendars, Whatsapp groups, and digital reminders to keep communication clear and streamlined – so things don’t fall through the cracks when we’re bouncing between the restaurant, our factory floor, events and customer meetings.
We try to use automation when it makes sense. For example, I love Google Alerts for industry-specific news and trends, and HubSpot is incredible for automating sales outreach. Social media also helps us stay connected to global food trends, which is a huge part of staying relevant when you’re stuck to a laptop.
As an ambitious female entrepreneur and co-founder in the Irish food scene, what challenges have you faced? And how can supports like Vodafone, as a ‘more-than-mobile’ provider, help empower other women in business?
Honestly, I’ve had plenty of moments where people assumed I couldn’t be the founder. I’ve had to fight to be heard in rooms where my male partner was taken seriously straight away. It’s improving, but we still need more visibility for women in business. Providers like Vodafone can play a huge role, not just by offering tools and infrastructure, but by spotlighting real stories of women building bold, brilliant businesses. Representation matters.
What’s next in the pipeline for Chimac?
Our range of sauces is launching in a high-end grocery store in LA next week, and we are also deep in talks with some other major international retailers, which is so exciting. We’ve also got two products in the works. One of them is our incredibly delicious honey jalapeño relish. You’ll find it topping our Good Good burger in our Aungier Street restaurant, but we can’t wait to get it into bottles and onto tables in homes across Ireland and beyond!
Photography by Christos Celniku
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