About QSR Media

QSR Media

Overview

QSR Media, published online as QSR Media Australia, is a business-to-business news service dedicated to Australia's quick service, fast casual and chain restaurant industries. Its own About page describes it as "the premier source of news and information dedicated to Australia's quick-serve, fast-casual, and chain restaurant industries", offering daily news, exclusive interviews, special reports, commentary and analysis for the country's most senior restaurant leaders and decision makers. The publication is part of the Charlton Media Group, a Singapore-based B2B publishing and events company, and it has sister editions covering the same sector in Asia, at QSR Media Asia, and in the United Kingdom, at QSR Media UK.

Unlike consumer food media, QSR Media writes for the people who run restaurant networks: franchise executives, multi-site operators, suppliers, investors and service providers. Its reporting follows the commercial side of brands such as McDonald's, KFC, Guzman y Gomez, Domino's, Subway and Hungry Jack's, as well as emerging local chains, covering store growth, franchising deals, menu strategy, technology adoption, marketing campaigns and executive appointments. Alongside the news site, the brand runs a weekly newsletter, print issues, webinars and roundtables, and an annual Conference and Awards event in Sydney that has become a fixture of the Australian restaurant industry calendar.

History

QSR Media is a brand of Charlton Media Group, which was founded in 2001 by publisher Tim Charlton. Charlton had previously worked in Hong Kong for News Corporation, at Star Television and at the South China Morning Post, and he built the group around business titles including Singapore Business Review and Hong Kong Business. The group expanded into sector-specific trade titles across the Asia-Pacific region, publishing in print and online and organising conferences and awards programmes attached to its brands. QSR Media applied that model to the restaurant sector, first in Asia and then in dedicated country editions.

In Australia, the brand established itself during the 2010s as the trade voice of the quick service sector. Its awards programme was under way by the middle of the decade: trade coverage of the 2015 event described it as the 2nd Annual QSR Media Awards, held in Sydney, where Vietnamese chain Roll'd was named the inaugural QSR Multi Site Restaurant of the Year. The accompanying conference grew quickly; by 2017 the event had reached its fourth annual edition, and the 2018 conference, held at the Sofitel Hotel in Sydney, was promoted as the fifth instalment after gathering more than 500 senior executives from Australia's biggest QSR brands the previous year. Named sponsors attached themselves to the event over the years, including Detpak in 2017 and Sandhurst Fine Foods in 2019.

The conference and awards returned in person in 2022 after a three-year pandemic hiatus, under the Op Central name, and the programme has run annually since. Charlton Media Group has continued to expand by acquisition as well as launches, buying the Retail Asia magazine from NYCU Media in 2020 and the Marine & Industrial Report newspaper in December 2024, and the QSR Media conferences are cited by the group as being held annually in both Asia and Australia.

Content and Coverage

The QSR Media Australia site publishes news daily across beats that mirror the structure of the restaurant business. News coverage tracks new store openings, franchise agreements, executive moves and brand campaigns, with recent reporting covering topics such as Domino's ANZ leadership changes, Wendy's expansion plans in Australia and new concept launches in Sydney. Its In Focus and research-led coverage draws on third-party industry data, including the GapMaps annual network report, which QSR Media reported as showing 250 net new fast food stores in 2025, the sector's strongest store growth in a decade, and consumer research on how value offers and bundled deals are shaping visit patterns.

Regular features include a Weekly Global Wrap summarising international quick service stories, a Social Media Wrap rounding up brand activity, executive insight interviews with chain leaders, and coverage of technology, delivery, human resources, franchising and menu innovation. The site also carries videos and podcast content, partner content from suppliers, and event news from its own conference programme. Its reporting is frequently based on interviews with operators and analysts, and its articles are bylined to staff reporters and contributors based in Australia.

The events side of the brand is integral to its coverage. The QSR Media Conference & Awards, powered by Red Bull in recent years, combines a one-day conference programme with an awards ceremony recognising categories such as Best Digital Initiative, Best Marketing Campaign, Best New Concept, Best Customer Experience and Multi-Site Restaurant of the Year. The 2026 edition was held on 12 October 2026, with winners including El Jannah, KFC Australia, Oporto, Wendy's Burgers Australia and Five Guys Australia across its categories.

Audience and Reach

QSR Media's audience is the professional readership of the Australian restaurant industry: executives of franchised and company-owned chains, franchisees and multi-site operators, and the suppliers, landlords, technology vendors and advisers who sell to them. The publication positions itself as a C-suite read, and the attendance claimed for its conference, more than 500 senior executives in 2017 according to its own event promotion, indicates the level of reader it targets. The publication does not publish independently audited audience figures for the Australian site, and none are claimed here.

Its reach is amplified by the wider Charlton Media Group network. QSR Media is one of a family of sector and city business titles that includes Singapore Business Review, Hong Kong Business, Asian Banking & Finance, Asian Power, Insurance Asia, Healthcare Asia and Retail Asia, and the Australian edition cross-promotes content and events with QSR Media Asia and QSR Media UK, giving Australian stories exposure to regional and British trade audiences and vice versa.

Digital Presence

The publication's digital home is qsrmedia.com.au, which is updated daily with news, features, videos and event coverage, and supported by a weekly email newsletter for subscribers. The site was publishing throughout 2026, with new articles appearing daily in October 2026, including coverage of its own awards held on 12 October 2026. According to the publication's About page, the digital offering is complemented by print issues, C-suite level webinars and roundtables, reflecting the hybrid model Charlton Media Group applies across its portfolio of websites, magazines, conferences and awards.

Ownership and Organisation

QSR Media is owned and published by Charlton Media Group, the business information group founded in 2001 and led by Tim Charlton, who serves as the group's chief executive and editor-in-chief and is also credited as its managing director. The group is based in Singapore, with offices also in Hong Kong and the Philippines, and publishes country-based business magazines and regional trade publications in print and online. Within that structure, QSR Media Australia operates as the group's Australian restaurant-industry title, with its annual conference and awards held in Sydney. Justine Charlton was identified as editor of QSR Media in the publication's coverage of its 2026 awards.

Contact and Availability

QSR Media Australia is available online at qsrmedia.com.au, where readers can subscribe to its weekly newsletter and follow daily news coverage of the quick service and fast casual restaurant industries. Details for its Conference and Awards, including the annual Sydney event and its Asia and United Kingdom counterparts, are published on the site, and advertising and partnership enquiries are handled through the Charlton Media Group. In keeping with this directory's policy, the structured business email field for this listing is left empty.