Current food service industry growth is driven by quick service restaurants (QSRs) with McDonald’s, Starbucks, KFC, Burger King and Chick-fil-A leading in global sales.

Burgers are still the highest seller, but their growth has stagnated while chicken is surging in popularity.

Fast food chicken chains are experiencing significant growth, and, earlier this year, American chicken chain Chick-fil-A opened its first Irish location in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. CEO of consultancy firm Kubi Kaloo, Kristin Hickey, told this week’s Bord Bia Food Service seminar that chicken is currently “king” when it comes to the QSR segment.

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This research was conducted in collaboration with Bord Bia and looked at QSR consumer behaviour in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, India and China.

“From a food service point of view, chicken is very versatile,” says Hickey. “There’s far less waste, it’s cheap and it’s an ingrained protein in many cultures around the world.”

She highlighted two risks for chicken restaurants; bird flu and transparency around chicken processing.