Prices at hundreds of KFC restaurants across the country are set for another hike as Australia grapples with inflation.

On Tuesday, Collins Foods announced customers were “likely to see more (price hikes) in the year ahead”, despite the company already raising item prices since January.

The company owns 263 KFC outlets across Australia, including 23 Taco Bells in metro areas.

“The KFC brand has never been stronger in Australia, and metrics around quality, value and purchase intent are at record levels — particularly important in times like these,” chief executive Drew O’Malley said.

“While we are planning a higher level of menu pricing than historically … I need to take pains to point out this is exactly the environment we want to be winning in value,” Mr O’Malley said in a conference call.

“We’ve got to be careful of not getting too far out in front of our consumer to erode the work that’s been done over the past decade.”