Jack Cowin fulfilled what many of us dream of: he went from being a salaried worker to suddenly becoming a tycoon. In 1969, this man bought a KFC store in Perth; today, his holding company Competitive Foods controls more than 1,600 restaurants under well-known brands such as Hungry Jack’s (the Australian version of Burger King) and Domino’s Pizza, and it is valued at over 3 billion dollars… How do you build an empire in less than half a century? We’d like to know too, but we’re going to tell you Cowin’s fascinating story!
Who is Jack Cowin
Cowin was a boy who shovelled snow, delivered newspapers, and sold items for a few dollars. But when he turned 20, he started making hamburgers and entered a world that would change his future completely.
He is now the founder and chairman of Competitive Foods Australia, which runs the Burger King brand in Australia under the name “Hungry Jack’s” At 82 years old, he is a billionaire and leads a true empire of fast food.
When Cowin arrived in Australia, the country barely knew what a multinational franchise was. The novelty of Kentucky-style fried chicken attracted long lines and incredible results: in just two years, that first restaurant reached annual sales that tripled the industry average and amazed the sector.
Cowin applied a regional expansion strategy and negotiated preferential conditions with local suppliers, reducing logistics costs and maximizing margins, finding his market niche in a growing and competitive environment.
The spark that lit the fried chicken
By the 1970s, he realized that depending on a single brand was risky. It was time to bet on burgers. Since the Burger King license was not available in Australia, he acquired the rights and, due to legal issues with the name, launched Hungry Jack’s.
And his instinct proved right: he took advantage of a market that demanded fast, affordable food with an American image. Adapting to local taste with more barbecue sauces and quality coffee boosted customer loyalty, and still does to this day.
The key: innovation and marketing
Cowin insisted on making the menu flexible: he added breakfasts, vegetarian options, and long seasonal promotions, always keeping in motion with his audience and their changing preferences.
Meanwhile, he sponsored sports events that linked the brand to big moments, so its visibility didn’t rely solely on traditional advertising or generic publicity campaigns.
The key to Domino’s Pizza
The next step was becoming the majority shareholder of Domino’s Pizza in Australia and New Zealand. There he repeated the same strategy: his own logistics, large-scale negotiations, and digital home delivery. You could say Cowin went to Australia looking for copper and ended up finding gold.
The equation seemed simple: own capital, reinvestment, and leverage. That’s how this man built a real empire based on consistency and long-term vision.
Far from slowing down, Cowin is still going strong, leading around 450 restaurants in Australia alone. And remember, he is also executive chairman of Domino’s Pizza, which runs about 2,500 pizzerias across Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, a total of nearly 3,000 stores worldwide!
Of course, it hasn’t been an easy road. Let’s not forget this man started young, saving money while clearing snow from the streets just to make a living.
He managed to get the funds and cross the ocean to start working on what would become practically his life’s work. A good combination of factors, no doubt, and his business mindset led him to lead a market hungry for fried chicken and fast service.
So, the biggest lesson this man leaves us is that to think globally, you have to act locally, without betraying your own essence, without giant advertising strategies, just by understanding what the consumer wants, building relationships, patterns, and winning people over through their stomachs. An incredible feat, Mr. Cowin!