Why chicken leads the UK QSR market
Visits to chicken restaurants increased significantly, compared to the wider fast-food sector.
The number of chicken-focused chains in the UK rose by 6.5% in 2025, reflecting the category’s growing dominance in restaurant footprint, visits, and menu share, according to a report by Meaningful Vision.
Visits to chicken restaurants increased 5.6% over the same period, compared with just 0.4% growth across the wider fast-food sector. The gap between outlet growth (+6.5%) and visits (+5.6%) suggests average visits per chicken outlet fell by roughly 0.8% year-on-year, indicating that rapid footprint expansion is beginning to pressure per-store traffic even as the category grows.
Chicken’s influence is increasingly visible on menus. The share of chicken products across fast-food menus climbed from 31% in 2024 to 35% in 2025. With strong value perception and menu versatility, chicken supports promotions, shareable formats, and limited-time offers. Operators are leveraging these strengths to drive conversion across dine-in, delivery, and digital channels.
Even chains where chicken is not the core menu item are seeking a share of the category’s growth. Brands such as Wendy’s and Domino’s have expanded their chicken offerings and side propositions to capitalise on the momentum.
Competition is intensifying, with both new entrants and established international brands reshaping the market. Popeyes and Wingstop have introduced new formats and enhanced digital engagement for UK customers. Additional new arrivals, including Dave’s Hot Chicken, MB Chicken, and US brands like Chick-fil-A and Raising Cane’s, are expected to expand aggressively.
Strategically, the rise of chicken has shifted from a high-growth sub-segment to a core product category. For operators, menu engineering, value-buckets, limited-time offers, and digital loyalty will be critical to protecting margins while scaling.
Location selection and portfolio mix are increasingly decisive as rapid expansion requires balancing high-turnover city sites with smaller neighbourhood formats to manage declining average traffic per store. Independents face pressure, with those unable to match scale, marketing, or digital capability will struggle, whilst operators that specialise or localise offers can maintain viable niches.
The growth of chicken also presents opportunities along the value chain. Suppliers and CPG partners benefit from larger, more predictable demand for chicken-centric SKUs, sauces, and co-branded innovations.
For investors, the combination of footprint expansion, traffic growth, and digitally engaged entrants makes chicken-focused concepts attractive, though they should anticipate longer roll-out timelines and potential short-term margin pressure as chains prioritise market share.
Meaningful Vision’s analysis of 2025 data confirms that chicken is no longer peripheral. Its influence is reshaping menus, store development, and traffic patterns across the fast-food landscape.
As competition intensifies, the operators most likely to succeed will be those aligning rapid roll-out, location strategy, disciplined menu engineering, and best-in-class digital capabilities.
