Breakfast becomes Australia's next QSR battleground

Transactions have climbed from under 5% in just one year.

Breakfast now accounts for more than 8% of total QSR transactions across 22 tracked brands in Australia, up from less than 5% a year ago, as a wave of chains enter a daypart long dominated by McDonald's and Hungry Jack's, according to new data from Fonto.

The shift has accelerated in recent months. Guzman y Gomez, whose breakfast push was amongst the most visible in the category, reported its breakfast menu grew almost 20% during 2025 and represented 7% of total sales for the financial year. KFC, which has held second place in QSR market share without a breakfast offer, this week announced plans to expand into the timeslot. Soul Origin, originally positioned as a lunch alternative, has also been performing well at breakfast in 2026.

"Breakfast has gone from an afterthought to a genuine battleground for QSR brands," said Ben Dixon, founder and chief executive of Fonto. "When a brand as established as KFC signals it wants a share of the timeslot, that tells you the growth opportunity is real, and the competition for it is only going to intensify."

Fonto's tracking of more than 50,000 breakfast occasions in the 12 months to June 2026 challenges the conventional picture of the morning QSR customer. Rather than skewing young and time-pressed, the breakfast customer is older and male. The 50-plus age group accounts for more than 60% of breakfast share across the category, rising even higher in Queensland and South Australia.

The nature of the occasion is also shifting. Breakfast has historically been driven by speed and routine, but Fonto's data shows the underlying need is moving toward craveability, a factor the research firm said is drawing new customers into the timeslot and reshaping how brands think about menu and operations.

Food has overtaken coffee as the anchor of the occasion. Some 80% of breakfast visits now include a food item, with hash browns and breakfast rolls leading the category. Of drinks purchased at breakfast, almost one in two include a hot coffee and one in three a soft drink.

The firm said coffee may get breakfast customers through the door, but crave-worthy foods are what keep them coming back as cheap and easy meal items become not enough as a defining factor.