Burgers still lead Australia's QSR market as chicken chains gain ground

Smaller QSR chains are more linked to quality and ingredients.

Burger and chicken brands in Australia are growing at approximately 10% and 7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) respectively, even as the broader quick service restaurant (QSR) category remains flat in volume, according to a new report from Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

The report said this pattern differs from the United States, where chicken brands are the stand-out in gaining share, whilst the performance of burger brands is "more bifurcated."

Over the past three years, Australia's Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) market has grown about 5% per year. However, according to BCG, once you remove price and mix, the category is roughly flat in volume.

BCG analysed major Australian QSR brands against 28 functional and emotional consumer needs and found most attributes are not strongly associated with any single brand. The largest brands tend to under-index on quality and ingredients, whilst smaller challenger brands are more strongly linked to those attributes, the report found.

A separate report by GapMaps published in March 2026 said that Mexican and chicken chains were amongst the fastest-growing nationally.

Net restaurant openings rose from 178 in 2024 to 250 in 2025, an increase of 72 locations, representing a 40.4% year-on-year growth.