KFC crushing Chicken Licken, Nandos, and Hungry Lion in South Africa

KFC is winning big in South Africa, with the American brand capturing the most takeout spend among individuals younger than 35. 

The fried-chicken giant even captures more spending from this group than delivery apps, such as Uber Eats and Mr D. 

KFC has become embedded in communities across South Africa, introducing fast food to the country and building an unrivalled store network. 

South Africa’s first KFC opened in 1971 in the suburb of Orange Grove, Johannesburg. This was 24 years before the country got its first McDonald’s.

The two-decade lead allowed KFC to build brand loyalty across generations before it faced any serious competition from its American peers. 

KFC did not give up this lead, even under threat of US sanctions. To ensure the local brand kept operating, all local assets were transferred to a South African entity, while the American parent company effectively divested. 

This kept the brand in South Africa while many of KFC’s peers were unable to invest in the country or shut up shop. 

When apartheid ended in 1994, and the threat of sanctions was removed, the American giant reacquired its South African assets and began pumping money into local outlets. 

KFC launched a major expansion drive and opened stores in townships, rural areas, and shopping malls across the country. 

The brand’s success even took executives by surprise. Today, KFC has over 1,200 stores across the country. 

This makes South Africa the fifth-largest market globally for KFC, larger than the United Kingdom, Thailand, and India. 

KFC has a longstanding advantage over its competitors in emerging markets due to its willingness to change its menu and meet local consumers where they are. 

McDonald’s, for example, is known for its extremely strict standards and wants the experience in any of its stores worldwide to be identical. This goes down to the variety of potatoes used to make its iconic fries.

This limits McDonald’s expansion in most emerging markets, as they lack the necessary infrastructure for the Golden Arches to operate as it would like. 

Compared with KFC’s 1,200 stores in South Africa, McDonald’s operates only 400 stores in the country and very few in the rest of Africa. 

Generation after generation

KFC’s dominance looks set to continue for another generation, with data revealing that it is the takeout of choice for young South Africans. 

Standard Bank’s 2026 Youth Barometer showed the fast-food giant captures the most transactions and value by any single takeout brand for under-35s. 

This data is based on the spending behaviour of the bank’s clients aged 18 to 35, as well as on research by Youth Dynamix. 

The bank collects this data to inform which products and services particular clients demand and how they can be better served. 

Its second Youth Barometer shows that young South Africans are generally more resilient than expected and use financial products very differently from previous generations. 

One of the areas where differences with previous generations are clearest is the willingness of young individuals to spend on takeout. 

In this arena, KFC dominates with 12.96% of all restaurant and fast-food transactions. McDonald’s is in a distant second place with 9.65% of transactions. 

Both of these fast-food giants capture a larger share of transactions than Uber Eats and Mr Delivery. In KFC’s case, it garners a greater share than both delivery apps combined. 

Standard Bank noted that local brands such as Chicken Licken, Debonairs, Steers, and Nando’s maintain steady engagement. This indicates sustained cultural relevance. 

One area of significant growth is coffee shops, which are gaining traction among youth. Vida e Caffè broke into the top ten in terms of transactions for the first time. 

While still a niche category, Standard Bank said this indicates that coffee is becoming a popular lifestyle-driven behaviour, although it is not yet central to everyday spending. 

A looming disruptor is Hungry Lion, which is growing rapidly across South Africa. It plans to open 250 stores this year and will cross the 750-store mark before the end of 2027. 

It is currently just outside the top ten in terms of transactions and ranks ahead of Roman’s Pizza, Spur, and Wimpy.