McDonald’s, KFC & Domino’s Pizza most visited NZ restaurants
New research from Roy Morgan shows over 3.2 million New Zealanders aged 14+ (84.8%) buy or eat take away food whether from leading fast food outlets such as McDonald’s, KFC or Domino’s Pizza or from the local fish and chips shop, pizza shop, convenience store or the like.
This is a marginally higher rate of patronage than the 84.5% of Australians who visit fast food and take away stores which we explored earlier this week here.
As in Australia it is McDonald’s leading the way with 33.2% of New Zealanders visiting or purchasing from the golden arches in an average four weeks ahead of the 17.7% that visit KFC.
The battle for third place is close between Domino’s Pizza which is visited or purchased from by 15% of New Zealanders in an average four weeks just ahead of Burger King on 14.9% and Subway on 13.2%.
Top 10 New Zealand Quick Service Restaurants to visit or purchase fast food in an average four weeks – 12 months to March 2018
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source New Zealand: April 2017 – March 2018, n = 6,418 New Zealanders aged 14+.
Generation X top for fast food and McDonald’s favoured by all generations
Patronage of fast food outlets differs substantially by generation. Over four-fifths of Generation X (80.8%) and 77.3% of Millennials visit or purchase fast food in an average four weeks. This is substantially more than either Baby Boomers (68.1%), Generation Z (66.1%) or Pre-Boomers (54.1%).
However, analysing the leading fast food outlets by generation shows McDonald’s is number one in New Zealand for all generations. Over two-fifths of Millennials (42.6%) and Generation Z (40.2%) visit or purchase from McDonald’s in an average four weeks.
Beyond top spot though there are significant differences between generations in New Zealand.
Overall KFC is the second most popular fast food outlet due to its strong performance amongst Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials, however it drops to third for Pre-Boomers and Generation Z.
Domino’s Pizza is third overall based upon the pizza chain’s strong performance amongst Generation Z. Domino’s Pizza is the second most popular fast food outlet for Generation Z, but is fourth for all other generations.
Subway is second for Pre-Boomers, and third for Baby Boomers, but only just inside the top five for the three younger generations. Burger King performs best amongst Generation X and Millennials in third position but doesn’t make the top five for Pre-Boomers.
Top 5 New Zealand Quick Service Restaurants to visit or purchase fast food in an average four weeks by Generation – 12 months to March 2018
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source New Zealand: April 2017 – March 2018, n = 6,418 New Zealanders aged 14+.
Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan, says New Zealanders’ love of fast food just edges out their Australian neighbours but the top fast food chains are remarkably similar:
“New research from Roy Morgan shows 84.8% of New Zealanders aged 14+ have ever visited a fast food outlet compared to 84.5% of Australians. This encompasses a market of over 3.2 million New Zealanders – around twice the size of Auckland.
“McDonald’s is the number one fast food outlet on both sides of the Tasman and in New Zealand McDonald’s is the top fast food outlet for every generation. Impressively, over two-fifths of Millennials and Generation X visit McDonald’s in an average four weeks.
“KFC is second overall in New Zealand (and Australia) built on being the second most visited fast food outlet for Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials. However Subway is second most popular for Pre-Boomers and Domino’s Pizza is second most popular for Generation Z.
“Comparing the genders shows more women (86.9%) than men (82.6%) have ever visited fast food outlets in New Zealand. Women are more likely to visit McDonald’s, Domino’s Pizza, Subway and Pizza Hut whilst men are more likely to visit KFC, Burger King and Burger Fuel.
“New Zealand’s fast food market is an increasingly competitive space with local outlets Burger Fuel and Hell Pizza facing stiff competition from international brands such as McDonald’s, KFC, Subway and in recent years Carl’s Jr.
“Four of New Zealand’s top ten fast food restaurants base their menu around a suite of burgers while pizza chains take out three of the top ten spots. To grow market share in a market with such an abundance of choice requires a deep and comprehensive understanding of not only a brand’s existing customers but also the larger market of potential new customers.
“Roy Morgan’s analytical tools are based on detailed interviews with over 6,000 New Zealanders each year as part of the New Zealand Single Source survey. Combining the breadth and depth of Single Source with the powerful psychographic segmentation of Roy Morgan Helix Personas New Zealand provides an unrivalled understanding of consumers of all sorts throughout New Zealand.”
For comments or further detail, please contact:
Howard Seccombe, Chief Digital Officer
Office: +61 (03) 9223 2427
Howard.Seccombe@roymorgan.com
Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.
| Sample Size | Percentage Estimate |
| 40% – 60% | 25% or 75% | 10% or 90% | 5% or 95% | |
| 1,000 | ±3.0 | ±2.7 | ±1.9 | ±1.3 |
| 5,000 | ±1.4 | ±1.2 | ±0.8 | ±0.6 |
| 7,500 | ±1.1 | ±1.0 | ±0.7 | ±0.5 |
| 10,000 | ±1.0 | ±0.9 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 |
| 20,000 | ±0.7 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 |
| 50,000 | ±0.4 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 | ±0.2 |
