Red Rooster’s shock new menu shake-up

Red Rooster is known for its “wholesome” humble roast chicken dinners. But now the Australian restaurant has introduced a new item as its menu undergoes a massive review.

Exclusive: Red Rooster is known for its “wholesome” humble roast chicken dinners. But now the Australian restaurant has introduced a new item as its menu undergoes a massive review.

After more than 45 years, the Australian fast food restaurant chain is shaking up its core menu to attract new customers.

From today, all of Red Rooster’s 350 restaurants across the country will have burgers on their menus for the first time.

The historic move comes nearly 50 years after Red Rooster first opened its doors in 1972.

The new range, known as the ‘Hellfire’ range, is set to rival competitors including McDonald’s, KFC, and Hungry Jack’s.

Red Rooster’s Director of Marketing Ashley Hughes told News Corp Australia they are aiming to reach a new type of customer with the burger offering.

“It’s a contemporary and edgy and rebellious name for the burger range,” he said.

“Our mainstream consumer is around 35 or 40-plus and come to us for a roast dinner on occasion.

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An example of one of the Red Rooster burgers in a combo meal. Picture: Supplied

“We want to target younger 20 to 35-year-olds who are looking for a more modern contemporary flavour for lunch that we have not offered to date.”

While Mr Hughes previously worked at KFC for six years, he said the new Hellfire range was being worked on last year before he was recently hired.

“It’s definitely the right direction for the brand to be moving in,” he said.

“It was tested in market last year in North Queensland and it was successful there and we are now rolling it out nationally.”

The new Hellfire range includes three new burgers with chicken coated in buttermilk on a “premium” potato bun. Customers can get a single or double chicken burger option.

Another example of one of Red Rooster's new burgers. Picture: Supplied

Each burger comes with three different spicey sauces including jalapeño mayonnaise as their first mild option, followed by habanero chilli sauce as their medium-heat option.

The spiciest sauce is the reaper chilli sauce, which Mr Hughes said was spicier than a bucket of KFC chicken.

“It’s still approachable heat so it’s not going to blow your head off but its pretty spicey,” he said.

“It can’t be too hot that people can’t come back for a second one.”

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Mr Hughes said that part of the push to bring in a spicier menu also comes back to what consumers want.

“More people are eating spicey across different food categories, whether it’s in their Vietnamese or Mexican, which are all on trend, we are trying to compliment their changing taste profiles,” he said.

He also said the new burger range will be available as part of a 10-week promotional offer and if there was enough demand, they will look to put it on their permanent menu.

In comparison to rivals like Macca’s, KFC and Hungry Jack’s, Mr Hughes said there were a few differences with Red Rooster’s new offering.

“The bun is definitely a premium bun … we’re really trying to elevate the customer experience as most of our competitors will go with a flour-based bun,” he said.

“The chicken is on par, it’s all Australian-sourced chicken.

The Red Rooster burgers being sampled in North Queensland after the recent floods that hit Townsville. Picture: Supplied

“I think the key difference is the flavour profiles, I’d say our mild [sauce] is on par with our competitive set, but our medium and hot [sauces] are spicier. We offer a significantly greater range of heat and spices, so more choice for the customer.”

As for reviewing the current menu, Mr Hughes said the restaurant chain is keen to “bring more excitement” to the roast chicken with new flavours.

They are also keen to rationalise and remove a number of the older products off the menu that aren’t selling.

Items that are not as popular include their salads and some dessert items that are being reviewed.

He said potato and gravy, peas and corn would stay on the menu but they are looking at launching a new range of chicken wings.

The menu review at Red Rooster comes as recent Roy Morgan research revealed McDonald’s and KFC still dominate as Australia’s leading fast food restaurants.

The research found McDonald’s is visited by nearly a third of all Australians aged 14-plus (6.4 million) in an average four weeks, an increase of over 800,000 from four years ago while KFC is now visited by nearly 4.7 million Australians (23 per cent), up nearly 900,000 from 2014. The report found eight per cent of Australians visit Red Rooster.

Originally published as Red Rooster’s shock new menu shake-up