Guzman Y Gomez opened 27 new stores last year, including 10 in Greater Sydney, to lead the way in network growth among fast food and QSR brands.
Alongside GYG, KFC, Zambrero and Subway also forged ahead, boosting their store footprints in 2024, according to the latest report from GapMaps.
The report reveals 19 brands showed positive net store growth (after closures). The eight fastest growing brands accounted for 152 locations.
Zambrero opened 20 net new locations while Oporto added 16 stores.
Mad Mex, Betty’s Burgers, and El Jannah each added 10 new stores to their networks.
KFC led major QSR growth
Of the five major QSR brands, KFC showed the greatest growth adding 23 net new stores, lifting its total network to 804 nationwide.
Subway, with the largest network of 1,246 stores, boosted its footprint by 17 stores. The second largest network with 1,050 stores, McDonald’s, added 19 restaurants.
Hungry Jack’s with 471 stores showed a net change of 16 new stores.
Schnitz added seven outlets, Grill’d expanded the footprint with five stores.
Among the 458 sushi stores nationally, the largest network chain Sushi Hub with 177 stores added 14. Sushi Sushi, boosted its footprint with 11 new sites.
Population growth boosted expansion
The cloud-based data intelligence platform’s 2024 Annual Fast Food & Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) Network Report, tracked store openings and closures across 36 brands in Australia for the 12 months to 31 December 2024.
Andrew Smith, head of research and economics at GapMaps said population growth had helped the food and beverage sector.
“In total, the 36 leading brands tracked collectively opened a net 178 new outlets in 2024, highlighting the sector’s resilience and sustained growth,” Smith said.
“To keep pace with the level of population growth, we have seen the major QSR chains expand their store footprints, with Subway, McDonald’s and KFC all opening more than 20 new stores in 2024 to maintain store provisions at a ratio of one store per 20,000-30,000 residents. A target they have largely achieved,” he added.
Melbourne saw the greatest number of store openings (55) with 31 new stores in Sydney. Brisbane had 21, Perth 19 and Adelaide four new sites.
