It wasn’t that long ago Australians had only a handful of fast food options. Want a burger? Then it was probably McDonald’s or Hungry Jack’s. Desire for a chicken dinner would have led you to KFC, Red Rooster or, for those in Western Australia, Chicken Treat. Many will still remember Pizza Hut’s phone number jingle – unless you preferred Domino’s.
The number of fast food options have exploded over the past two decades. According to those who track the industry, store numbers will rise even faster over the coming years as international chains see massive growth potential in Australia amid a cost-of-living crisis.
But at what cost?
Food fiesta
Major fast food chains opened more than 300 new stores in Australia last year, according to data analysis firm GapMaps, led by heavyweights KFC, McDonald’s, Subway and Hungry Jack’s.
Guzman y Gomez and Zambrero also contributed strongly to the expansion in what was a golden year for Mexican-themed food. Mad Mex, Betty’s Burgers and El Jannah each added 10 stores to their networks.
Overseas chains not already in Australia also want a piece of the market.
The US burger giant Wendy’s re-entered Australia in January by opening a store on the Gold Coast, the first of an anticipated major expansion. US chains Chuck E Cheese and Firehouse Subs are also planning to open local stores.
According to researcher IbisWorld, more than 40% of fast food and takeaway services have a burger-based menu, followed by chicken (20%) and pizza (16%).
The decision to expand store networks – which, for some chains, has more than offset closures – was made despite the prevailing cost-of-living pressures that have prompted many households to cut back on restaurant and cafe eating.
Peter Holmes, the chief operating officer at GapMaps, says fast food chains see Australia as a growth market.
“If you go to LA you’ll have 10 options in a row; we still only have a handful of the big players,” he says.
“They do recognise that consumers are probably spending a little less per ticket due to cost of living, but they are trying to make sure they make themselves more accessible and broaden their offering.
“In general, fast food is cheaper than dining out, and they are working hard to attract customers.”
Analysts at IbisWorld credit the trend to consumers “trading down” from expensive restaurants to more affordable outlets amid persistent living cost pressures.
The researcher expects the number of fast food and takeaway businesses in Australia will rise from about 36,000 currently to more than 39,000 by 2030, marking an 8% lift in numbers.
Health cost
Australia’s growing population is opening up new areas for fast food outlets.
Major chains tend to work on a ratio of one store per 20,000 to 30,000 residents, according to GapMaps. Many of those stores are in outer suburban fringes, described by Holmes as the “heartland” for the sector.
Prof Nicky Morrison, director of the Urban Transformations Research Centre at Western Sydney University, says fast food outlets target young families in outer suburban communities where there is often less competition from independent restaurants.
She says those communities are “doubly penalised” because they have less access to healthy fresh food, including supermarkets.
Morrison was part of a 2022 study using Penrith in Sydney’s west as a case study that found suburbs with the highest concentration of fast food outlets also had the highest obesity and cardiovascular disease rates.
Dr Priscila Machado, a research fellow at Deakin University, says all fast food brands – even chains that make sandwiches in front of you and promote their burgers as healthy – are considered ultra-processed foods, which carry their own health harms, including increased risk of cancer and cardiometabolic multimorbidity.
“These are ultra-processed foods that are made of industrial ingredients that have been modified … [they] go through several processing techniques plus the use of artificial ingredients like additives,” Machado says.
She points to fast food buns being so soft and fast food cheese being so melty as examples of how ultra-processed foods are designed to be easily consumed. The refined ingredients, which tend to have less fibre and protein, make it difficult for the brain to recognise when you are full.
“We tend to have higher eating rates when consuming these ultra-processed foods [because] you’re eating more per minute without realising it,” Machado says.
Guzman y Gomez’s ingredients list shows it uses a range of industrial ingredients used in ultra-processed foods, such as modified starches, thickeners such as maltodextrin in its seasoning, and anti-foam agent in its corn chips and churros.
These are often used to help foods maintain their texture when high temperature and high-pressure techniques are used in food processing.
Guzman y Gomez tells Guardian Australia that while it aims for “minimal processing … some menu items require functional additives to ensure guest safety and maintain product integrity”. Its definition of clean is taken to mean no added preservatives, artificial flavours, added colours or “unacceptable” additives, the spokesperson says.
Fast food getting bigger
Fast food is set to become even more prevalent across Australia.
To get people to visit more often, stores are heavily promoting their breakfast and snack menus alongside their traditional lunch and dinner items, while making their menu items more convenient to purchase.
Subway and Grill’d are among those to recently open drive-through options, while Guzman y Gomez now has stores open 24 hours a day.
New entrants, including Wendy’s, also want to open lots of stores, quickly, given chains rely on expanding networks to improve name recognition and economies of scale.
Almost all major fast food chains have partnered with delivery platforms such as Uber Eats, DoorDash and Menulog and many have their own apps, making unhealthy food more accessible than ever, especially to younger, digitally savvy customers.
Morrison says she wants to see local and state planners implementing zoning regulations to limit the concentration of fast food outlets in certain areas, particularly near schools and residential zones, and encouraging a wider variety of healthy food options and pedestrian-friendly spaces to reduce dependence on car-centric fast food options.
Dr Kate Sievert, from Deakin University’s Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition, says the policy solutions put forward in Australia have generally been “piecemeal” and only focus on consumer choice, for example improving food labelling.
However, “choice is a very small part of the picture when it comes to food”, she says, with more policies needed that target every level of the supply chain, from distribution to retail.
When it comes to fast food companies, Sievert says, “their goals are to grow and to nourish their shareholders essentially, instead of nourishing their customers”.
