Burger war: Hungry Jack’s adds ‘Jack’s Fried Chicken Burgers’ to their menu

Hungry Jack’s is moving into Australia’s fried chicken war with a new offering to rival KFC and Red Rooster.

Billionaire Jack Cowin is taking Hungry Jack’s into Australia’s fried chicken war by adding new burgers to their menu, to rival offerings from KFC and Red Rooster.

The fast food chain will launch its Jack’s Fried Chicken Burger range nationwide on Monday, which has been two years in the making.

The company boasts their fried chicken will be 40 per cent bigger than its rivals after it made the call to create the option to meet customer demand.

“This isn’t something that has happened overnight. We have been working on this project for a couple of years, traveling around the world trying to find who has got the best product, why and how they do it,” Mr Cowin said.

“If you look at the big picture, the per capita consumption of chicken over the past ten years has continued to climb so it‘s now the number one protein consumed by the Australian population.

“On top of that, beef costs are high in the world and Australian beef is at the top....and as beef gets more and more expensive and prices continue to go up, chicken is more stable.

Fast food mogul Jack Cowin.

The move is set to open a new front in fast food wars with ASX-listed rival Collins Foods – the operator of the KFC franchises in Australia – telling shareholders last week it had experienced booming sales for the past year.

Hungry Jack’s three new burger flavours include Fried Chicken Spicy, Fried Chicken Classic and Fried Chicken Cheesy Bacon. The buns will be buttered, which Cowin says they have never done before.

The burgers have been trialled at selected stores in the ACT in Queanbeyan and in Goulburn in NSW for the last few months before being rolled out nationally.

Cowin’s fried chicken foray comes as Australia has rapidly become a nation obsessed with fried chicken burgers.

According to Hungry Jack’s internal YouGov data, more than 2.2 million Australians eat fried chicken at least once a week or several times a week.

It also comes on the back of Cowin’s rollout Canadian-born Cowin, who is the nation’s biggest fast food mogul, now has an estimated wealth of $3.77 billion and is ranked 20th on Australia’s Richest 250 list compiled by The Australian.

In recent years Cowin has also made a major bet on fast-grown plant-based meat. He has a cornerstone stake in start-up v2foods which supplies Hungry Jack’s vegetarian Rebel Whopper.

Hungry Jack’s have entered the fried chicken game, launching a range of burgers that were two years in the making. Picture: Supplied

“Hungry Jack’s is taking the lead with the biggest, thickest, and juiciest fried chicken available,” Hungry Jack’s chief marketing officer, Scott Baird said.

While convenience still drives demand for such fast foods that replace home-cooked meals, a

a recent IBIS World report into takeaway chicken shops also found industry players have been changing their menus to sell health-conscious meals and grilled chicken products.

Cowin’s private Competitive Foods business now has more than 400 Hungry Jack’s franchises around Australia. Latest figures shows the business had about $1.58bn revenue in the 2019 financial year, making a $24.1m profit.

In comparison, Collins Foods, KFC Australia’s largest franchisee, said the KFC was its “standout performer” with same store sales growing at a record rate of 12.9 per cent as revenue grew 13.8 per cent to $900.4 million in its recent end of financial year report.

The company also said it opened 11 new KFC stores.

Collins Foods CEO Drew O’Malley said: “As consumers turned to trusted brands and sought convenience, we responded with powerful brand marketing, combined with exciting initiatives in digital and an expansion of our delivery network.

“Digital and delivery continue to be pillars of our growth strategy for the KFC brand.”

Red Rooster, which is backed by private equity, launched Crunchy Fried Chicken on its menu in March.