Update, Oct. 2, 2017, at 1:13 pm - This article has been updated to reflect that Debonair's Pizza, and not Dominoes, came third. We apologise for the error.
Cape Town - Kentucky Fried Chicken has been named South Africa’s favourite fast food restaurant in the latest Sunday Times Top Brands awards.
KFC beat Nando’s and Debonair's Pizza to claim the top spot, in research conducted by market research agency Kantar TNS.
Steers claimed fourth place, with McDonald's (and McCafe) coming in 5th.
The rest of the top ten, in terms of ranking, were Chicken Licken, Roman's Pizza, Fish and Chip Co, Something Fishy and Galito's.
KFC not only took home the top fast food brand award, but also won the overall grand prix award – meaning it was the favourite brand in the polls (followed by South Korean electronics and smartphone giant Samsung).
“The work behind this has been immense," said KFC marketing manager Jacques Cronje in a media release. "It represents a couple of years of consistent hard work when we started the journey to contemporise the brand and speak to consumers in a new and fresh way.
“For me as a marketer and for the marketing team at KFC this is wonderful, as it means we are doing the right things – things that are resonating with consumers,” he said.
In June KFC partnered with UberEATS - the online meal delivery service operated by Uber – to allow customers to order its chicken through the UberEATS app.
Nic Robertson, general manager for UberEATS South Africa, said at the time: "KFC is one of the most loved brands in South Africa, and we are so excited that UberEATS can help bring eaters the KFC meals they’ve so desperately craved.”
How the findings are calculated
The polling was conducted by market research agency Kantar TNS. In a media release it stated that to find the best brands for the 32 different consumer categories announced on Wednesday, it polled 3 500 people aged 18 years and older in both metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas.
“Similarly, 468 business leaders and decision-makers were interviewed to establish the Top Brands across twelve business categories,” it said.
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