Top bird: Australia’s favourite supermarket roast chicken named

After a busy day out, nothing beats heading to your local supermarket and picking up a roast chicken for dinner. And now, a new survey has found which supermarket’s roast chicken is the best.

To get to the bottom of this high stakes issue, consumer research group Canstar Blue surveyed more than 1,500 Aussies. The participants were asked to compare and rate any supermarket chickens they had purchased and eaten in the past three months, with regards to taste, freshness, packaging design, value for money, and overall satisfaction.

In a surprise move, warehouse shopping hub Costco, which first came to Australia in 2009, kicked supermarket giants Coles and Woolies to the side and claimed the top spot. Costco received five-star reviews across the board, including for taste, freshness, packaging design, value for money, and overall satisfaction. A whole hot chook from Costco costs $6.99, but you’ll need to fork out an extra $60 for the annual membership fee before you can start shopping.

“This year, Costco fried the competition after it not only rated best for overall satisfaction, but was also the only supermarket to achieve five stars in any category!” Canstar Blue said in a statement.

Last year’s winner, IGA, dropped to second place, with its roast chicken picking up four stars. Coles and Woolworths came in at third and fourth place respectively, with both receiving three stars for overall satisfaction.

From a quick search online, it’s not clear how much an IGA roast chicken costs, but a Coles RSPCA Approved Whole Chicken Roast will set you back $10, and it’s about the same price for the Woolworths variety.

Canstar also asked participants what their favourite roast chicken bits were, with 37 per cent saying breast, 20 per cent favouring leg/drumstick bits, 14 per cent choosing thigh, 10 per cent loving the roast chicken skin and 9 per cent enjoying wings the most.

The new data comes almost a month after consumer advocate Choice surveyed more than 3,100 supermarket shoppers to find out Australia’s best supermarkets. The highest-ranked supermarket (with 82 per cent) was South Australian-based Foodland, followed by South Australian/Queensland-based Drakes (79 per cent) and New South Wales-based Harris Farm Markets (78 per cent).

Next on the overall satisfaction list — but first if you’re after value for money — was Aldi. While Woolworths and Coles scraped in at numbers eight and nine (out of 10). See the full list here.