Burger King Gets Experimental
In addition to recent forays into restaurant and fashion concepts, fast food retailer Burger King has been dramatically tinkering with its menu items. As reported by the Miami Herald, Burger King currently has more than 45 menu items in different stages of testing.
The menu items include barbecued ribs, a grilled salmon sandwich and a steak kabob, in addition to more traditional items such as the XTC Steakhouse Burger. This thicker, juicier version of the standard Burger King hamburger is designed to appeal to core customers. It will retail at $4.69, which will make it one of Burger King’s most expensive items. The new burger will be released to the public in about 80 markets, beginning in April 2009. Burger King is also currently testing its new barbecued ribs item in Las Vegas, NV and Indianapolis, IN, and may perform a regional test in Q3 2009.
Burger King’s new menu items will be prepared on a new broiler that allows flexible cooking times. Approximately 60% of Burger King’s 7,700 US restaurants currently have the new broiler installed and all US locations are scheduled for installation by January 2010.
Burger King’s menu experiments follow a number of other recent experiments in store design and marketing. On March 10, 2009, the company opened its first Whopper Bar restaurant in Orlando, FL. The Whopper Bar features a smaller, more modern store layout and built-to-order sandwiches. In fall 2008, Burger King launched Burger King Studio, an interactive, urban-themed restaurant concept that has a complementary line of branded lifestyle merchandise.
Chief Burger King rival McDonald’s reported strong fiscal results in 2008 after making changes to the prices and selections on its menu, as well as modernizing the physical dining experience with features such as in-store WiFi access and flat-screen TVs. McDonald’s was one of two companies in the Dow-Jones industrial average, along with Wal-Mart, to see its share value increase in 2008.
Burger King reported a same-store sales increase of 1.9% in February 2009. During the month, McDonald’s reported an increase of 2.8% and Wendy’s reported an increase of 3.7%.
Burger King operates more than 11,700 restaurants in all 50 US states and in 74 countries and US territories worldwide. Approximately 90% of Burger King restaurants are owned and operated by independent franchisees.