A study into the fast food habits of Australians has revealed that 84.5 per cent of us admit to eating takeaway fast food from the likes of McDonald’s, KFC and the local pizza shop.

The study by Roy Morgan Research found that although an increasing number of Australians are turning to the convenience of meal delivery services such as Uber Eats and Foodora, traditional fast food restaurants still hold sway for large numbers of Australians.

Top 10 Quick Service Restaurants eat at or have take away in an
average six months – 12 months to March 2018

McDonald’s remains the number one pick for fast food (or quick service restaurant) with over half of Australians, or 52.7 per cent, eating at or having McDonald’s take away in an average six months, almost 12 percentage points ahead of second placed KFC on 40.8 per cent.

Jostling closely for third place are three quick service restaurants at which just under a third of Australians eat at or have take away in an average six months with Subway on 30.8 per cent just ahead of both Hungry Jack’s on 29. per cent and Domino’s Pizza on 28.3 per cent.

Generation Z most ‘hooked’ on McDonald’s & KFC

Analysing the leading quick service restaurants by generation shows that McDonald’s and KFC are the two top quick service restaurants for all five generations. McDonald’s is preferred to KFC by between 11-13 percentage points across the generations.

Patronage of leading quick service restaurants is heavily correlated to age with Generation Z the most likely to eat at McDonald’s (67.3 per cent) and KFC (56 per cent) while Pre-Boomers are the least likely of the generations to eat at either. Only 26.5 per cent of Pre-Boomers eat at McDonald’s and only 15.1 per cent eat at KFC.

Subway is the third most popular quick service restaurant for Pre-Boomers (14.8 per cent), Baby Boomers (21.3 per cent) and Generation X (32.7 per cent). Hungry Jack’s comes in third for Generation Y on 36.9 per cent and Domino’s Pizza is third for Generation Z, on 42.2 per cent.

Quick Service Restaurants eat at or have take away in an average
six months by Generation – 12 months to March 2018

Commenting on the study, Roy Morgan CEO, Michele Levine, said: “Over 17 million Australians eat take away food and despite the burgeoning food choices available in recent years McDonald’s remains clearly the most visited fast food restaurant in the country. Over half of Australians aged 14-plus (52.7 per cent) eat McDonald’s in an average six months while traditional fast food rival KFC is second on 40.8 per cent.

“Nearly a third of Australians eat Subway, Hungry Jack’s or Domino’s Pizza food in an average six months and Domino’s Pizza is now the third most popular restaurant for the upcoming Generation Z.

“Other leading fast food outlets include Red Rooster, and the reigning 2017 Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Award Winner Grill’d. Over 10 per cent of Australians eat Red Rooster or Grill’d in an average six months.

“The consistently high customer satisfaction performance for Grill’d is certainly delivering the gourmet burger restaurant an increasing customer base as a relatively new entrant to the market. Grill’d opened its first store just over a decade ago in 2004 while other leading fast food chains have been in Australia since the 1980s (Domino’s Pizza and Subway) or even earlier.

“Advances in technology mean ordering food via an app on your mobile phone is easier than ever. To remain relevant when services including gourmet food experiences are quite literally at your fingertips quick service restaurants such as McDonald’s, KFC, Grill’d, Domino’s Pizza and others need to understand their customers and provide for their needs, wants and desires better than ever before,” Levine said.