KFC’s Zinger burger may have met its match, if a $450 million wipeout at its biggest local franchisee, Collins Foods, since January is anything to go by. And what has caused this share price destruction? A handful of cult chains that have blown up from a single chicken shop to big chains.

It’s operators such as Frango, El Jannah and Gami – Portuguese, Lebanese and Korean chicken chains – that are causing heartache for Collins Food shareholders and are at the top of the worry list for the company’s newly appointed chief executive Xavier Simonet. From single stores – Frango opened in Sydney’s inner-western suburbs in 1989 and now has 13 outlets – these popular chains are cutting the lunch of fast food stalwarts.