Look, every Australian knows the feeling. It's been a long day, the fridge is looking sad, and nobody has the energy to actually cook anything. So you do what generations of Australians before you have done: you swing by the supermarket, grab a bag with a golden rotisserie bird inside, and call it dinner. The bachelor's handbag. A national institution.
Now, financial comparison site Canstar has done the hard yards and answered the question that has quietly divided households for years: which supermarket actually sells the best roast chook? After interviewing more than 1,900 Australians who had recently bought a hot chicken, the results are in, and there's a new champion on the podium.
Local grocery franchise IGA took home the 2026 Most Satisfied Customer Award for Rotisserie Chicken, earning a perfect five out of five stars for both overall satisfaction and taste. Freshness, value for money, and packaging each earned four stars. Fair dinkum, that is a strong card from the local independent operators.
The real story here is who IGA knocked off the top spot. Costco, the membership-only wholesale giant, had held the crown for five straight years. That kind of dominance is rare in any sporting contest, let alone a chook competition. Costco still scored top marks for overall satisfaction but slipped to three out of five for taste, which, in a competition decided by how good the bird actually is, proved costly. Silver medal, Costco. Still a respectable effort.
Woolworths came in third with a four-star overall rating, and Coles finished at the back of the pack with three out of five across every category. Coles is currently engaged in a separate stoush, having been taken to court by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission over pricing practices. You'd have to say it has not been the smoothest run of form for the red team lately.
Beyond the rankings, the survey threw up some genuinely entertaining insights into how Australians relate to their roast chickens. A quarter of respondents said they regularly bring one to family parties or gatherings. That checks out. There is something almost ceremonial about arriving at a get-together with a chook under your arm, like you've made a proper contribution without actually having done any cooking.
Budget shoppers made up 18 per cent of the cohort, saying they simply grab whichever bird is cheapest. Another 18 per cent prioritised animal welfare, specifically seeking out free-range options. And stuffing? Deeply divisive, apparently. One in four Aussies admitted to binning it immediately.
Here's the thing about the Gen Z result, though. Eleven per cent of younger respondents said they have passed off a supermarket roast chicken as their own cooking. I reckon that number is considerably higher in reality, and I respect the hustle entirely.
A Canstar spokesperson said the survey captured a category where consumer expectations run high. "With nearly a quarter of Aussies picking up a hot chook as part of their regular shop, it's a category where expectations are high and loyalty is hard-won," she said.
At the end of the day, the rise of IGA here is a lovely reminder that the big two supermarkets do not have a monopoly on doing things well. Independent retailers, often locally owned and community-focused, can absolutely go toe-to-toe with the giants when it comes to the products that matter most to people. And in Australia, a good roast chicken matters quite a lot indeed.