COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
McDonald’s (both owned and franchised) remained the largest brand in fast food in Australia, holding a value share of 25% within fast food and 77% within burger fast food in 2013. The NBO reported that in Australia, lower levels of customer spending and intense competition impacted the performance of the chain over the review period, although industry sources have argued that the continuous discounting strategy run by McDonald’s in Australia was a more plausible cause for the brand’s results, as its value share of the two categories fell over the period. In 2012, Euromonitor International reported the positive impact of the Loose Change menu on the company’s value sales in Australia; however, in 2013, data revealed a decline in the average spend at McDonald’s outlets, indicating that its discounting did in fact boosted sales temporarily but then began to erode the company’s profit, with value sales growing at a negligible rate of less than 0.5%.
PROSPECTS
Fast food is expected to grow at a CAGR of 2% at constant 2013 prices over the forecast period, with similar growth anticipated for outlet numbers. The category is expected to continue to grow its value share of total consumer foodservice, and it is expected that the category will represent a 32% value share of consumer foodservice by 2018, as fast casual dining options make fast food increasingly attractive to consumers looking to save money by trading down from the full-service restaurant experience. The best performance from a