New Zealanders' taste for chicken continues to drive up sales for fast food operator Restaurant Brands, offsetting a waning appetite for burgers.
A KFC outlet. Photo: RNZ / Diego Opatowski
The company's sales rose 8.5 percent to $96.6 million in the 12 weeks ended on 23 May, with its New Zealand KFC stores accounting for two-thirds of the sales.
KFC's sales rose 1.4 percent to $65.4m, coming off a large 13.2 percent increase the year earlier, with strong demand for specialty promotions such as the Bacon Lovers Stack Burger.
But the fledgling Carl's Jr burger brand underperformed, with same store sales down more than 13.5 percent on the year earlier, with total sales down 1.1 percent to $7.9m.
Pizza Hutt sales fell 11.8 percent, but still contributed $9.2m sales, with Restuarant Brands closing nine of its stores in the past year.
Despite the closures, the company said the pizza brand continued to grow strongly, with total network sales of $20.5m, up 6 percent on the year earlier.
Starbucks Coffee same store sales rose 1.8 percent, but overall sales were down 2.2 percent to $6m.
The 42 KFC stores it acquired in New South Wales on 28 April made $8.1m in sales in the one-month period, which was in line with the result from the year earlier.