Burger King products
Encyclopedia
When the predecessor of international fast food restaurant
chain Burger King
(BK) first opened in 1953, its menu predominantly consisted of hamburgers, french fries, soft drinks, milkshakes, and desserts. After being acquired by its Miami, Florida franchisees and renamed in 1954, BK began expanding its menu by adding the Whopper
sandwich in 1957, and has since added non-beef items such as chicken, fish, and vegetarian offerings, including salads and meatless sandwiches. Other additions include a breakfast menu and beverages such as Icees, juices, and bottled waters. As the company expanded both inside and outside the United States, it introduced localized versions
of its products that conform to regional tastes and cultural or religious beliefs. To generate additional sales, BK occasionally introduces limited-time offers of special versions of its products, or brings out completely new products intended for either long- or short-term sales. Not all of these products and services have been successful; in 1993, Burger King introduced limited table service featuring special dinner platters, but this concept failed to generate interest and was discontinued.
The company introduced the first iteration of its breakfast menu, along with the company's "Specialty Sandwich" product line, in a 1978 menu expansion. The products were some of the first designed by a fast food restaurant chain that were intended to capture the adult market, members of which would be willing to spend more on a higher-quality product. The expanded Burger King menu was part of a plan by then-company president Donald N. Smith to reach the broadest possible demographic market to better compete with McDonald's
, and to fend off then newcomer Wendy's
, who had a growing market share. The plan was successful: the company's sales increased by 15 percent. Despite another menu expansion in 1985, the company's market gains diminished due to neglect of the brand at the hands of then-parent Pillsbury and its successors, Grand Metropolitan
and Diageo
. When the company was sold to a group led by TPG Capital in 2004, the trend of targeting an expanded audience was renewed under a plan by its then-CEO Brad Blum
. During Blum's tenure, the company added several products that featured higher-quality ingredients and other menu fare that again attempted to appeal to the adult palate and demographic. As in the past, not all of these products met corporate sales expectations, or in the case of several of its larger offerings, resulted in negative publicity due to nutritional concerns.
Like its menu, the equipment the company cooks its hamburgers with has also evolved as the company grew. The burgers have always been broiled mechanically; the original unit, called an Insta-Broiler, was one of two pieces of equipment the founders of Insta-Burger King purchased before opening their new restaurant. The Insta-Broiler worked by cooking 12 burger patties in a wire basket, allowing the patties to be cooked from both sides simultaneously. With the acquisition of the chain by its Miami franchisees came an improved unit dubbed a "Flame Broiler". Designed by the new owners, it featured stationary burners that cooked the meat on a moving chain. The unit broke down less often, while maintaining a similar cooking rate. The cooking format remained for the next 40 years until Burger King developed a, new variable speed broiler that could handle multiple items with different cooking rates and times. These new unit began testing in 1999 and eventually evolved into the two models the company deployed system-wide in 2008–2009. Accompanying these new broilers was new food-holding equipment and a computer-based product monitoring system for its cooked products. The new system allows for more concise tracking of product quality, while giving its users a method to streamline costs by more precisely projecting sales and product usage.
When the predecessor to the modern Burger King, Insta-Burger King, opened in 1953 in Jacksonville, Florida
, the company's menu consisted predominantly of hamburgers, french fries, soft drinks, and desserts. Insta-Burger King was acquired in 1954 by two of its franchisees, James McLamore
and David Edgerton
, who renamed it Burger King. Under its new ownership, the company continued to develop its core menu, cooking techniques, and equipment. In 1957 McLamore and Edgerton created BK's signature item, the Whopper
, as a way to differentiate BK from other burger outlets at the time. The Whopper is a 4 oz (113.4 g) hamburger with lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, pickle, and ketchup, that was priced at 29¢. The sandwich was designed to give the customer a larger product with better value than competitors, who were selling burgers with an average price of 15¢. As Burger King's flagship product, the Whopper has been expanded beyond the original sandwich into a line of sandwiches all made with the same ingredients. The Whopper sandwich has undergone several modifications in its recipe over the years, with a change from a plain bun to a sesame seed roll in the early 1970s and a change in patty size in the mid-1980s being two of the most notable. Since its inception, the Whopper has become synonymous with Burger King and become the focus of much of its advertising. The company has even named its kiosk-style restaurants "Whopper Bars
".
In 1978, Donald N. Smith was hired from McDonald's to help restructure the corporate operations of Burger King to better compete against his former company as well as the then up-and-coming chain, Wendy's
. As part of an operational overhaul he dubbed "Operation Phoenix", one of his first changes to the company's menu was to add the Burger King specialty sandwich line in 1979. This line—with many non-hamburger sandwiches, including chicken and fish—significantly expanded the breadth of the BK menu. It was one of the first attempts by a major fast food chain to target a specific demographic, in this case adults aged between 18 and 34 years, members of which were presumably willing spend more on a higher quality product. The new products were successful, and the company's sales increased by 15 percent. While most of the line has since been discontinued, the company's Original Chicken Sandwich
is still offered in all of its global markets, and the ham and cheese sandwich is a regional offering.
BK Chicken Tenders
made their debut in a menu revision and expansion in 1985 to address the absence of a chicken-based finger product akin to McDonald's Chicken McNuggets
. The product had to be temporarily withdrawn because of limited availability of chicken meat; it was re-introduced about six months later. Originally made with sliced fillet
s of chicken, the product was changed to a formed chopped-chicken product several years later. Fish Tenders were introduced to complement Chicken Tenders during a menu expansion in 1989. The new fish product, sold in the same style of container as the Chicken Tenders, was an order of fish sticks with Tartar sauce for dipping. Portion sizes were similar to those of the Chicken Tenders. Fish Tenders were discontinued in 1990.
The company introduced its first broiled chicken sandwich
, the BK Broiler, in 1990. The sandwich included a dill-ranch mayonnaise and was served on an oat-bran roll. In 1998, BK reformulated the BK Broiler into a larger, more male-oriented sandwich: a larger chicken patty with mayonnaise served on a Whopper bun. In 2002, BK changed the name of the sandwich to Chicken Whopper and added a smaller Chicken Whopper Jr. sandwich. The company replaced the Chicken Whopper line with another broiled sandwich line in 2003, the BK Baguette line. The chicken sandwich, served on a fresh cooked baguette roll, and came in several varieties, all of which were topped with a series of ingredients that were low in fat. They were sold in the United States at one time, but are now sold only in the European market. The failed Baguette line was replaced in North America with the current grilled chicken iteration, the TenderGrill sandwich.
Although Wendy's was the first to have a value menu in 1989, Burger King decided to offer its own value menu in 1998. This menu featured seven products: the Whopper Jr., a five-piece Chicken Tenders, a bacon cheeseburger, medium-sized french fries, medium soft drink, medium onion rings, and a small milkshake – all priced at 99¢ (USD). In 2002 and 2006, BK revamped its value menu by adding and removing several products such as chili
and the Rodeo Cheeseburger. Many of these items, such as Chili, tacos, the Sourdough burger (a product similar to the Whopper Jr., but with sourdough bread), and Chicken Tender sandwiches have since been discontinued, modified, or relegated to regional menu options.
Returning to the practice of targeting the adult demographic as it had in 1978, BK introduced several new products to its menu in 2003. The new products included new or revamped chicken sandwiches, a new salad line, and its BK Joe brand of coffee. The first of these items was the TenderCrisp
chicken sandwich, an entirely new sandwich which featured a fried 5.2 oz (147.4 g) whole-muscle chicken breast on a corn-dusted roll. The sandwich was part of then-CEO Greg Brenneman
's plans to bolster the company's revived "Have it your way" advertising program, which was designed to draw younger people to its stores. Some items, including the Enormous Omelet Sandwich
line and the BK Stacker line, brought negative attention due the large portion size, amounts of unhealthy fats, and the presence of trans-fats. At the time, many of the products featured higher-quality ingredients like whole chicken breast, Angus beef, Cheddar cheese, and pepper jack cheese. Not all the products new products introduced under Blum's tenure met corporate sales expectations, the Baguette Chicken sandwiches being an example. Others products, such as Burger King's line of "indulgent" burgers originally called the Angus Burger, have undergone multiple reformulations. The Angus Steak burger was originally based around a 5 oz (141.7 g) frozen patty; despite high expectations from the company, the sandwich fared poorly. After a reformulating program, it was relaunched in 2008 as the 5 oz (141.7 g) Angus Steakhouse burger. With the introduction of a new multifunction broiler capable of cooking a more diverse set of products, Burger King replaced the Angus Steakhouse burger with the 7 oz (198.4 g) Steakhouse XT burger in 2009.
During 1997, BK revamped its french fries in North America. The improved fries were coated with a layer of potato-based starch
, giving the fries a crisp shell that maintained its texture longer. The company introduced them in a series of advertisements that claimed the new fries tasted better than McDonald's fries in consumer taste comparisons. Other ads featured Mr. Potato Head
in a series of demographically-targeted commercials. The fries were in research and development for over two years and already had been available in several markets when the advertising campaign began. In Europe, BK also sells potato wedges
, a type of French fry that is thick-cut and wedge-shaped. In 1991, the company introduced Twister fries, spiral-cut fries with a spicy coating, as part of a promotional push. Part of the product's appeal was they were served in a paper drink cup as opposed to the normal fry carton. The product was designed as a short-term promotion that would be periodically reintroduced.
In 2002, Burger King offered "Shake 'em up Fries", which included a bag of fries and a packet of spices. The customer would add the spices to the fries and then shake the bag until the fries were coated.
Beyond French fries, the company has introduced several other side products over the course of its existence. Onion rings
have been part of the menu for the majority of BK history. Originally made from whole, sliced onions, they were reformulated into a formed product made from onion paste in 2001 as part of a menu revamp. In the same 2001 menu revamp, the company added an onion ring-specific dipping sauce, and emphasized it again during its 99¢ BK Value Menu introduction in 2002. As part of its BK Cravers value menu introduction in 2005, the company briefly sold jalapeño popper
s accompanied by a side of ranch dressing
as part of its national menu. The same menu added mozzarella sticks
with a side of marinara sauce
; the mozzarella sticks have since been relegated to a regional menu item in the United States, but are sold on the national menu in Canada.
sticks and mini-muffins. The new breakfast line was designed to be portable, because studies had shown that an increasing percent of consumers were eating breakfast on the go. Shortly after the introduction of the french toast stick products, BK partnered with Lender's Bagels
to introduce a bagel breakfast sandwich. The new product was designed to drive sales in the morning by piquing customer's curiosity with a new taste. The product was tested for several months in BK's original home territory of Miami before a national roll-out.
In the late 1990s, BK co-branded several of its breakfast products with former parent Pillsbury; Pillsbury produced a fresh-baked biscuit product for the chain in 1996 and miniature cinnamon rolls called Cini-Minis in 1998. As part of the cachet built into the products, Burger King advertises that products are cooked fresh in the restaurant each morning.
With the effects of the late-2000s recession reducing breakfast traffic to the stores, Burger King announced that it was making the first wholesale changes to its breakfast line-up in many years. In early 2010, Burger King tested a new group of breakfast products under its new BK Brunch product line; a reintroduced English muffin sandwich, a sandwich featuring ciabatta
bread, a pair of breakfast bowls, and a non-alcoholic mimosa
. In September, a slightly modified variation of the menu was taken national during one of the largest menu expansions in the company's history. Chief Marketing Officer Mike Kappitt said breakfast produced 12 percent of the company's income, but that was only half of what McDonald's made. Part of the expansion was a major advertising campaign that encouraged people to change their minds about skipping breakfast at a time of high unemployment.
As the company expanded both inside and outside the United States, it introduced localized versions of its products that conform to regional tastes and cultural or religious beliefs. In countries with predominantly Islamic populations, such as Saudi Arabia
, pork is not served due to Muslim dietary laws. In Muslim countries, meat is slaughtered using the halal method and labeled as such. Similar adaptations also occurred in Israel
, where kosher
dietary laws forbid the mixture of meat and dairy products. Before the company exited the country in 2010, many of its locations in Israel were fully kosher.
In many international markets, BK offers products or condiments that fit local tastes. For example, in Canada, BK offers poutine
gravy and vinegar for its french fries, and peri-peri sauce is available as a sandwich topping in the United Kingdom. Hungry Jack's
, Burger King's Australian franchise, offers the "Aussie burger" with fried egg, beetroot, and other Australian flavors. In Asian markets, dark-meat chicken is preferred over white meat, and poultry products sold in these markets often are advertised as such. One of the more regionally differentiated lines of products is the company's dessert offerings. In the United States, BK offers several desserts, including Otis Spunkmeyer
chocolate-chip cookies, apple pie slices, Hershey's
Sundae
pie slices (a type of chocolate creme pie), and a rotating pie as part of its dessert menu. Internationally the company sells turnovers
, tortas
, Cini-Minis, muffins, brownies
, and vanilla soft-serve ice cream in cones and sundaes. In most markets where BK sells ice cream, it also sells a mix-in dessert under various names. Some of these international dessert products differ from the domestic products in terms of preparation; an example is the pies sold in Asian countries that are fried, turnover-style, instead of the deep-dish tart style associated with American sweet-filled pies.
, deep frying
, baking
, or microwaving. As noted in its mottos and advertisements, BK cooks its burgers and grilled chicken on an automated grill, while its other chicken products, fish, sides, and breakfast sausage are deep-fried in vegetable oil. BK prepares its eggs, biscuits, Cini-Minis, and cookies by baking in a convection oven
and microwaves its BK Veggie burger patty.
, Indiana, for the initial run of broilers. Eventually, the company moved the manufacturing contract for the broiler units to Nieco Automatic Broilers of Windsor, California
, who manufactured all subsequent units until the start of the 2000s.
When the time came for the company to develop a new broiler, it turned to its equipment manufacturer, Nieco, and St. Louis, Missouri
-based Duke Manufacturing
. Burger King's goal was to maintain the company's trademark flame broiling method while allowing more product options on a flexible cooking platform. The solutions that Nieco and Duke devised met that goal by using control features during cooking. The cooking methods employed by the two manufacturing companies vary in their methods; Nieco employed two chains, one that maintained a single speed and cooking temperature, and another that had a flexible speed setting and variable temperature control. Duke's solution utilizes an oven that cooks according to preset parameters for time and temperature, one heterogeneous product batch at a time. The first batch-style broiler was introduced in April 1999 and was tested in-store in central Wisconsin
during the summer of 1999.
Beyond the flexibility of the new broilers, the new equipment has several features intended to decrease operational costs. A more efficient design of the burners in the Nieco units produces a 30 percent reduction in energy consumption. The Duke units produce a $4,000 -$5,000 annual savings on energy compared to the original units, which ran approximately at full capacity all day. The units are so fuel-efficient that in many US states, the company and its franchises qualify for energy-efficiency rebates. However, and issue arose in September 2011 when the state of Washington state department of health warned Burger King of issues with the Duke units. In multiple incidents in seven counties throughout the state, the Duke units were found to have cracked heat spreaders which resulted in under cooked products. Additionally, there was foreign material contamination caused by loose insulation resulting from the cracks as well as other issues. Upon notification, Burger King released a statement that the company has notified franchisees and corporate-owned stores operating the Duke units with orders to repair the problem immediately. Additional training for operators was also ordered.
or serial port
. A kitchen flow software system that helps centralize information about the system was deployed in 2007; combined with the new equipment, it helped further reduce costs for the company and its franchises by calculating projected sales and actual usage. Along with the holding system, Burger King deployed newer high-speed toasters to decrease make times; the new toasters, while faster, require more maintenance, which increases overall labor costs.
in Dubai
. In all the markets, the value menu usually includes smaller sandwiches and entrées, small-sized side orders, small-sized drinks, and desserts. In the United States, the value menu has a breakfast offering in the same format as the lunch/dinner value menu.
from McDonald's. The meal includes an entrée, a side order, beverage, and a toy. The toy is usually a product tie-in with a movie or popular television show. The entrée and side offerings differ from market to market, as does portion size.
In the North American market, BK further divides its children's menu into three segments: toddler, kids, and "tween". The only difference between the first two groups is the prize offering; the toddler will receive an age-appropriate toy. The toys were originally designed by Kentwood, Michigan
-based Sassy Inc., and were introduced in 2000 as a supplement to the company's existing children's line. Burger King changed its toddler toy designer to Hudson, Ohio
-based Little Tikes
in 2003.
The tween offering, introduced in 1999, is called the Big Kids Meal. The Big Kids Meals consist of a double hamburger, a double cheeseburger, or a six-piece serving of Chicken Tenders plus a small order of fries, and a 16 USoz drink, and a toy. Further additions to the line included a six-piece serving of the company's Chicken Fries product. The introduction of the Big Kids Meal was not without controversy. McDonald's challenged Burger King's use of the name in a federal suit that claimed McDonald's had used the name first. According to the filing, McDonald's stated the company had used the term in a limited manner in Michigan in 1998 as part of a promotion in Detroit. The suit was judged to be without merit and dismissed in a summary judgment
.
To appeal to the adult market, BK offers several sandwiches and other products made with higher-quality ingredients such as whole-breast chicken fillets, Angus beef, and other "premium" ingredients. These sandwiches are usually served on a better-quality roll, such as baguettes or corn-dusted potato rolls. Through 2009 and 2010, the company added other higher-end product such as barbecued ribs, grilled fish, an improved grilled chicken sandwich, kebabs, and an extra-thick burger called the Steakhouse XT. Several industry publications claimed that these new offerings disrupt the differentiation between the fast-food and casual-dining markets with a combination of taste, competitive pricing, speed of service, and convenience. The adult-oriented products of Burger King and it competitors have been criticized by restaurant industry commentators as a temporary blip. The "indulgent" products are seen as blurring the lines between the fast-food and casual-dining market segments and, while they draw in newer customers looking for value, the effect may only be temporary. Once the economic instabilities of the late-2000s recession fade, customers may return to such casual chains as Chili's
and leave the fast food chains back where they started in terms of customer numbers and profits.
BK targets specific sub-groups within the adult market. Products like the BK Stacker and BK XXL
are aimed at late teen to young adult males; health-conscious individuals are offered products such as salads, grilled chicken, and veggie burgers. Products such as the BK Veggie, a meatless burger initially introduced in 2002, target the female and health-oriented demographic using a co-branded marketing program and a patty produced by the Kellogg Company
's Morningstar Farms
division. Another sub-market in this group is on-the-go parents and commuters; The company's BK Chicken Fries
—French-fry cut pieces of breaded chicken—is specifically targeted to this segment. First introduced in 2005, the product was successful enough that Burger King expanded the marketing of chicken fries to the children's demographic with a kid's meal version of the product in 2007. The meal was launched with a cross-promotion in conjunction with Nickelodeon's
SpongeBob SquarePants
. The series of commercials raised the ire of the American Family Association
due to perceived nudity concerns.
With the slowing of the global economy due to the financial crisis of 2007-2010, the company experienced a downside of focusing so much on this demographic group. The high unemployment of the recession, coupled with healthier eating habits, drove many customers away from fast food towards the fast-casual segment or forced them to stop eating out. Analysts have stated that by focusing its marketing and advertising programs on men, BK alienated women and children. Morgan Stanley
analyst John Glass stated, "Maybe catering to the super fan was the correct strategy to kick-start the business, but maybe they relied on that for too long..."
To help counter the perceived male bias of its superfan target group, the company expanded the definition in early 2010 to cover individuals of both sexes, all ages, and households who frequent fast food within the stated time frame. Throughout 2010, the company added newer calorie-conscious "Positive Steps" combo meals that were advertised in female-oriented media, as well as a continuing cross-promotional tie-in with the female-oriented Twilight film series
.
. The salad bar met with light to moderate success, but the company's franchise holders complained of high operating costs and a poor return on investment. Part of the product, a pita salad, was quickly dropped from the salad bar, as were plans to use the bar unit to boost breakfast sales. In 1987 the company augmented its salad bar with a test line of prepackaged salads, including chef
and garden salad
s. The salad bar was eventually eliminated in favor of packaged salads. In 1990, BK introduced a new salad line accompanied by a licensing agreement with Paul Newman
's Newman's Own, Inc.
, whose salad dressings accompanied the products. Burger King revamped its salad line again in 2004, with the introduction of its Fire Grilled Salad products. Burger King sought to differentiate this line of salads by packaging the warm meat toppings—a choice of grilled shrimp or broiled chicken—separately from the cold salad; this added the appearance of an additional layer of freshness. Currently in the United States, the salads are pre-made off-site. They are sold with two toppings and Ken's Foods
Ken's Steakhouse brand salad dressing. Internationally, the salads vary in composition and style from market to market. In all markets, salads are one of the items targeted at female and health-conscious consumers. In parts of Europe, salads are sold under the "King Delight" or "LA Range" banner.
As a response to recent obesity trends in the United States and other nations, Burger King modified its menu and food preparation practices. In addition to offering lower-fat menu item such as salads, the company has updated its nutrition guides to include dietary guidelines and other nutritional data. One of its reactions to the concerns over trans-fats was to initiate a program in January 2008 to phase out added trans-fat in its products, and to switch to pure vegetable oils that are free of hydrogenated fats
. The program ended in early 2009 with a complete changeover to the new oils. Most, but not all, of the products contain no added trans-fats; some products, such as the beef used in the hamburgers, still contain naturally-occurring trans-fats.
To address concerns over the increase in childhood obesity in Western nations and accusations of unhealthy offerings for children by groups such as the Center for Science in the Public Interest
, the company created a nutritional program called "BK Positive Steps" that is aimed at children and their families. The program began with the introduction of products such as broiled Chicken Tenders, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, and apple "fries", which are french cut apples served in a fry box that are featured in a new low-fat Kid's Club Meal. According to a statement by Burger King, the new Kid's Club meals contain no more than 560 calories per meal, less than 30 percent of calories from fat, less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fat, no added trans fats, and no more than 10 percent of calories from added sugars. Additional changes to its menu were announced in May 2009, including the reduction of sodium levels in its Chicken Tenders product by approximately 33 percent; a switch to non-fat milk products in the U.S.; and adding calcium-fortified apple juice to its beverage line-up. The broiled Chicken Tenders product is only sold in the UK/Ireland market. The product line has been expanded to include a boiled mini chicken sandwich for the kid's meals in this region.
The company has adapted its menu to accommodate different dietary lifestyles by adding several vegetarian options, including salads, the BK Veggie sandwich, and its deep-fried spicy bean burger that is sold in Burger King's international locations. The majority of these products do not qualify as vegan due to the presence of egg or dairy products; an example is the BK Veggie, which is approved by the British Vegetarian Society
. Society guidelines do not require their approved products to be vegan, and allow ovo-lacto-vegetarian
ingredients. The Veggie Burger is widely sold in other countries, sometimes under different names (for example, it is called a "Country Burger" in Germany). Burger King added low-carb variants of several of its products in 2004 that are in accordance with high-protein diets such as the Atkins diet
and the South Beach Diet
. Low-carbohydrate preparation consists of eliminating the bread and serving the product in a bowl with silverware.
In January 2010, BK began to publish a list of which of their products that contain gluten
and added menu options designed to help those afflicted with Celiac disease as part of its "Positive Steps" nutrition program. A company representative stated that it understands that its guests have individual dietary needs, and as part of its "Have It Your Way" promise, Burger King offers menu items for individuals with gluten sensitivity. BK food is prepared with several known food allergens, including wheat, milk, soy, and eggs.
, so when the environmental concerns over Styrofoam came to a head in the late 1980s, the company touted its use of paperboard
boxes for its sandwiches. When McDonald's moved to eliminate its styrofoam packaging, Burger King ran several sarcastically-worded ads in national newspapers stating that it had always wrapped its sandwiches in waxed paper; they welcomed McDonald's "to the club". To cut back on the amount of paper that the company used, the paperboard box was mostly eliminated in 1991; it was replaced with waxed paper. Paperboard boxes are still used for its "finger food" products like Chicken Tenders and Fries, French toast
sticks, and desserts.
In 2004, the company committed itself to a redesign of its entire packaging line that tied the packaging into its irreverent advertising campaign created by Crispin, Porter + Bogusky. Each product's packaging included a tongue-in-cheek
commentary about the product itself. Alex Bogusky, partner and executive creative director of CP+B, stated that BK decided "to create a dialogue with the consumer" by utilizing the large areas of white space found on its packaging at the time. All of its sandwich wrappers, cartons, tray liners, bags, breakfast platters, chili cups, condiments, and regional product packaging received what was described as "quirky ad copy" specifically targeting the 18–34 year-old male demographic segment. Besides the humorous commentary, the company also created sniglet
-type names for things that would appear in its products, such as a "ringer" – a single onion ring that had been accidentally included in an order of fries.
Starting with the introduction of its BK Chicken Fries product in 2005, BK began adapting some of its product packaging so that it could be placed in an automotive cup holder
. The BK Chicken Fry box, while square in shape, will sit comfortably in the cup holder and its top, when opened, forms a small tray that is designed to hold dipping sauce. Burger King credits the design of this box with helping to make its Chicken Fries the most popular adult-oriented chicken product in the United States. It has since added a trademarked and patented round french fry container which it calls the "FryPod", which is a paper cup made from 50 percent recycled materials that is designed to fit in an automotive cup holder. The package design won an honorable mention at a packaging industry design competition. BK's large and King sized beverage containers are made from molded HDPE plastic with a funnel-like shaped bottom that allows the oversized cups to fit in cup holders.
Union Packaging, a minority-owned, Philadelphia-based paper products company, has supplied much of the packaging for Burger King's North American operations since winning its first contract in 2000. The original $15 million contract was for paperboard "clamshell" containers and covered 1,250 BK locations in the United States. Union was instrumental in the development of the FryPod carton, and its efforts earned the company a supplier of the year award from Burger King in 2007.
style, began serving it on an oatmeal-dusted roll that was used for the broiled chicken sandwich, and renamed the product the Ocean Catch sandwich. When BK reformulated the BK Broiler, the company also reformulated the Ocean Catch as the BK Big Fish in its current configuration. The sandwich was again briefly reformulated after the phase-out of the Baguette sandwiches, and was reintroduced as the Big Fish in 2005.
One of the company's larger product reformulations came in March 2011. The company updated the recipe of its 25+ year-old Chicken Tender product line by reformulating the breading and spice mixture while updating the shape. The new formulation was described by the company as being "more broadly appealing" to the palate of its customers according to statement released by the company. Nation's Restaurant News
analyst John Barone stated that the change may also be due to an industry wide move to chicken-based product as a result of raising commodity prices, forcing restaurants to turn towards chicken-based offerings due to the elevated pork and beef prices occurring during the previous year. He added that chicken breast costs have been down or flat during the same period, making it a more appealing choice to companies. The new product push was accompanied with a product tie-in with the movie Hop aimed at the youth market, an adult-oriented advertising campaign pushing convenience and product customization and a nationwide coupon mailing in the United States. Online advertising was emphasized with the release a Facebook gaming application it called the "Tender 8".
Other LTO products sought to expand existing product lines with new base ingredients. The company's 1993 offering, a Meatloaf
Specialty Sandwich
, was introduced as part of a push into limited table service. Other LTO variants in its Specialty Sandwich line included an Italian sausage sandwich served in one of three ways: with onions and peppers; parmigiana
-style with mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce
; or with all four ingredients. Steak sandwiches were made from steak fillets or later, restructured beef. Other offerings were a ham and cheese sandwich with mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomato, and a veal
parmigiana sandwich.
product, called a BK Wrapper, was introduced in North America as a breakfast option in April 2008, with a lunch/dinner version offered in September 2008. These products were in response to industry trends towards products that are easier to consume on the go, and to trends that began in 2007 regarding smaller foods. Originally a limited time offer, the lunch/dinner version of this product was sold as a regional item through late 2009, when they were eliminated due to weakening sales. The 2009 introduction of BK Burger Shots
, Burger King's version of sliders
, was part of a wider trend in the restaurant industry for this type of sandwich. European locations sell them as the BK Six Pack. The variation sold in the UK and Ireland is called the Angus 6 Pack; it is six small burgers that are attached together. In the United States they are based on the Burger Bundles/Burger Buddies products of the 1980s, which were originally inspired by the similar products sold at White Castle
and Krystal
,
The licensing deals have proven successful. Broad Street has expanded the product line to seventeen countries across the globe while increasing selection to more than a half dozen products designed to mimic the flavors of some of Burger King's core menu products. The success of the product line and licensing deals garnered the companies an award for "Brand Extension of the Year" from License! Global magazine, and earned them a nomination for "Best Corporate License of the Year" from the Licensing Industry Merchandisers Association.
ConAgra Foods
entered into a licensing agreement with Burger King in 2009 for a new line of microwavable french fry products. The new products are King Krinkz, which are seasoned crinkle-cut fries; King Kolossalz, an extra-large package of fries; and King Wedgez, seasoned potato wedges. The products were slated to be released in September 2009. The packaging is designed to resemble BK's FryPod fry container.
brand barbecue sauce
. The sandwich was served on the same 7 in (17.8 cm) roll as the Specialty Sandwiches. Later it was sold as a traditional-style double cheeseburger.
In 1993, during its time under the ownership of Britain-based Grand Metropolitan, Burger King experimented with table service. After 4 pm, customers would place their order at the counter, and their order would be brought to them at their table. Customers were given complimentary popcorn to eat while waiting for their meal. To coincide with the offering, a series of meals called the Dinner baskets were introduced. The dinner baskets included the Whopper Dinner Basket, Steak Sandwich Dinner Basket, Fried Chicken Dinner Basket, and Shrimp Dinner Basket. In the New England
region of the United States, BK sold a Fried clam Basket. The dinner came with two sides, including a choice of a side salad, cole slaw
, french fries, or baked potato. Lasting approximately a year, the sit-down restaurant concept was abandoned in 1994 in favor of the original quick-service formula.
Another failed product, this time under Grand Metropolitan's successor Diageo, was the BK Back Porch Grillers line of burgers that featured a spiced and flavored patty served on a bakery-style roll. There were two varieties: The Regular served with mayonnaise, whole leaf iceberg lettuce, tomato and grilled onions, and the Bacon Cheddar, with bacon and smoked cheddar cheese. There was one LTO variety, the Black Stack Griller, made with Black Strap Barbecue sauce (a strong molasses
-flavored sauce), bacon, lettuce, and tomato. The Griller patty was flavored so that it had a taste similar to a hamburger that had been grilled over a charcoal-fired grill.
One of its international failures was the BK Crown Jewels line
of sandwiches, originally sold in New Zealand. These larger, adult-oriented sandwiches were made with fried and grilled chicken or a Whopper patty and a variety of toppings and served on a Kaiser roll. Toppings included a mango
lime
sauce, avocado
, aioli
, a Cajun
spiced sauce, and relish
. Originally successful, the sandwiches piqued the interest of Burger King's corporate offices and were being considered for a potential global rollout. However, interest in the product faded and they were discontinued.
Introduced as a direct challenge of corporate rival McDonald's, the BK Big King was Burger King's response to the Big Mac
and had a similar style and taste. The sandwich was originally introduced in 1995 under the name Double Supreme during its testing stage. The name was switched to Big King when it was introduced nationally in 1997, and again to the King Supreme when reintroduced in 2002. The sandwich was discontinued in the North American market but is still sold in many of the company's international markets in several forms.
, over the treatment of the animals it uses in the manufacture of its ingredients. In a concession to these groups, BK agreed to adopt a series of policies for its suppliers for several of its raw animal products. The company has established a preference for purchasing eggs and pork-based products from those suppliers that use cage-free production methods.
s for all of its meat suppliers and take action against facilities that fail those inspections. It would establish animal-handling verification guidelines for all the slaughterhouses of its suppliers. The company would require its suppliers to confine no more than five hens in each battery cage
, that the birds be able to stand fully upright, and require the presence of two water drinkers per cage. It would stop purchasing from suppliers who engage in the forced molting
of hens, develop auditing procedures for the handling of "broiler" chickens, and institute humane handling procedures for chickens at slaughterhouses. It would begin purchasing pork from farms that do not confine sows to stalls.
Per the conditions of its agreement with the groups, the company filed a petition in 2002 with the Food and Drug Administration
requesting the United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA) step up enforcement of the Humane Slaughter Act
of 1958. The USDA agreed with the request, stating "it is granting your petition and is developing a proposed rule that addresses the issue of humane handling." The USDA failed to indicate when it intended to publish the proposal in the Federal Register and solicit public comment, which would be the first step before the agency drafts a final rule.
s, metal enclosures that confine sows and restrict the animal's movement, and double that amount by the end of the year. It would also immediately begin purchasing 2% of its eggs from producers whose hens who are not confined to small wire battery cages, and double that amount by the end of that year. It agreed with PeTA that the company would issue a statement that it would be give purchasing preference to egg suppliers that do not use battery cages and to those poultry suppliers that utilize or upgrade to controlled atmosphere killing
, which is considered to be a more humane method of chicken and turkey slaughter.
. Heinz provided an LTO Blastin' Green EZ Squirt colored ketchup and an apple flavored "ooze" dipping sauce for distribution with the Shrek-branded kid's meals. Heinz has become a primary supplier of ketchup in the United States, Mexico, and Great Britain, while supplying various sauces in several European countries.
Kraft foods
has supplied many of its products to BK over the years. Several of its condiment lines have found their way into BK menu items. Two Kraft products were involved in direct tie-ins: the Bull's-Eye BBQ Burger in 2005 and the A-1 Steakhouse XT sandwich in 2010. In both cases, Burger King prominently used the names of the Kraft products, A1 Steak Sauce
and Bull's-Eye Barbecue Sauce, in the names of the sandwiches. Kraft has supplied several of Burger King's children's products, including a Jell-O
brand dessert during BK's Teletubbies
promotion in 1999, and the Kraft macaroni and cheese used in its lower-fat kid's meals introduced in 2009.
was devising new methods to broaden their market, including introducing smaller consumer packaging and landing military contracts. The company expanded its commercial division by offering new products to McDonald's and Burger King. Tyson's McDonald's product eventually evolved into Chicken McNuggets
while Burger King's product became the basis of its chicken sandwiches. For their 2010 rib promotion, Tyson was Burger King's pork supplier. Despite a production-significant lead time, the estimated four month product supply lasted Burger king less than three months.
A 1996 E. Coli outbreak at one of Burger King's largest beef providers, Hudson Foods, gave Tyson Foods one of its largest business coups. Hudson was one of the largest poultry providers in the United States and one of Tyson's largest competitors when they moved into beef processing at the behest of Burger King. Once it had secured a contract with Burger King, Hudson opened a beef processing plant in Nebraska. When the plant was identified as the source of an E. Coli breakout in 1996, Burger King abandoned the company as a supplier.
Lopez Foods, Inc. of Oklahoma City
is a supplier of beef to the Burger King. While Lopez's primary customer is McDonald's, the company supplies BK as well.
Edwards Baking
provides Burger King with prepackaged pies and pie-style desserts while providing oversight and assistance with the chain's dessert products. BK is one of Edwards' major national contracts, where the company provides Burger King with assistance in marketing programs, point-of-purchase advertising materials, market research, and other resources. Edwards has a full-time staff assigned to Burger King's headquarters in Miami. Before Edwards became Burger King's primary baked goods supplier, the chain had a contract with Awrey Bakeries of Livonia, Michigan
, for its line of pre-packaged breakfast products. Burger King sold a line of Awrey products including danish, doughnuts, and birthday cakes.
garnered the $444 million beverage supplier contract from its rival, and, in the midst of extreme market debate over the future of the contract, had it renewed for a second term in 1987. The company won the contract by strengthening the marketing and advertising program ties between Burger King and itself. The contract lasted three more years when, partially based upon Pepsi's growth as a restaurant operator with its Tricon Restaurants
division, Burger King moved its beverage contract back to Coca-Cola.
Since 1990, Burger King has continued using Coca-Cola as its beverage supplier, renewing its contract in several times. The Coca-Cola contract is not without its problems; the 1999 contract called for the Coca-Cola branded Icee products to be made a permanent menu item in all American locations. After the rollout, it was discovered that Coca-Cola employees had faked product test information to bolster prospective sales numbers in an effort to entice franchisees to enroll in a summertime advertising push. Several Coke employees were terminated, and Coca-Cola changed the in-store promotional materials to emphasize the Icee name. The 2003 contract officially extended the relationship between the two companies so that Coca-Cola was the exclusive supplier of soft drinks for the company. Before this, individual international franchises would negotiate their own contracts with their company of choice. The 2003 contract gave Coca-Cola new access to the 3,000 operating or planned restaurants on the Asia-Pacific rim, in Europe, and in South and Central America.
In 1999, Burger King added a second soft drink supplier contract with the Dr Pepper Snapple Group
to include Dr Pepper
to its beverage line up in North American restaurants.
Burger King's supply contracts for non-carbonated beverages are separate from the ones for its sodas. When the company first chose to introduce a bottled water product, it chose Nestlé
's Poland Spring
brand over Coke's Dasani
. When the contract expired in 2003, BK moved to Pepsi's Aquafina
, the top-selling brand at the time. In 2008 Burger King renewed its relationship with Nestlé by entering into an agreement to sell Pure Life bottled water products. BK moved away from Pepsi's Tropicana
brand juices in 2001 when it went with Coca-Cola's Minute Maid
brands for the North America market. With the introduction of its Positive Steps nutrition program for children, the company turned to the Hershey Company
to provide Hershey's branded low-fat milk in its North American stores. BK is utilizing a popular brand name to promote its products in a move to draw customers' attention to itself and its meal programs.
Produced by Sara Lee's Douwe Egberts
brand, BK Joe was Burger King's coffee line that was first introduced in 2001 in North America and later in parts of Europe. Advertised as being made from Arabica coffee, the product was made using Douwe's Cafitesse system, a platform that eschews coffee brewed from ground beans in favor of a beverage made from a coffee concentrate with hot water added. Sara Lee claims the advantage of the system is that each cup of coffee is made at the time of order with minimal waste and labor. The product was not designed to compete with products from companies such as Starbucks, but was intended to appeal to customers who seek a consistent cup of coffee.
Despite the investment in the Douwe Egbert product, Burger King announced it would be phasing out the Cafitesse system in the United States in the summer of 2010 in favor of Starbucks' Seattle's Best brand of coffee. Throughout the summer of 2010, BK added several new coffee-based products to the new coffee line in an initial effort to bring in more customers during the morning sales period. The new coffee products, including flavored coffees and iced coffee drinks, are available all day to compete with McDonald's McCafé
coffee line. Every Friday during November 2010, Burger King gave away free 12 USoz cups of Seattle's Best Coffee to encourage people to try its breakfast and coffee lines. The company predicted the number of free cups of coffee would number between two and four million.
limited service concept restaurants in Miami, New York, and Los Angeles in 2010. The company will be selling products from SABMiller
and Anheuser-Busch
, including Budweiser
, Bud Lite, and Miller Lite
in aluminum bottles designed to maintain temperature. The move, designed to target the important 30-and-under demographic, has been called risky by industry analysts because the company is known as a fast food purveyor and not as an alcoholic beverages seller. Other industry consultants have disagreed with the assessment, believing that the move is timely because the company is growing with its aging customer base.
In 1992, Burger King and its franchises formed Restaurant Services Inc. (RSI), an independent purchasing cooperative
, which covered 100 percent of BK stores in the United States. The creation of RSI was based on a proposal by then-CEO Barry Gibbons create an organization that would be autonomous from BK corporate operations, provide full financial disclosure to participants on pricing issues and revenues, and enjoy the participation of the entire chain to maximize the benefits of volume purchasing. The format of RSI was based on the system employed by KFC
for its distribution system and was operated in a similar manner. Two weeks after the formation of the co-operative, Grand Met sold the physical assets of BKDS to Canadian-based buyout firm Onex Corporation and folded BKP into RSI.
Currently the company utilizes independent distributors such as Maines Paper and Food Service and Sysco
for supplying North American stores with food and paper products.
Fast food restaurant
A fast food restaurant, also known as a Quick Service Restaurant or QSR within the industry itself, is a specific type of restaurant characterized both by its fast food cuisine and by minimal table service...
chain Burger King
Burger King
Burger King, often abbreviated as BK, is a global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The company began in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida-based restaurant chain...
(BK) first opened in 1953, its menu predominantly consisted of hamburgers, french fries, soft drinks, milkshakes, and desserts. After being acquired by its Miami, Florida franchisees and renamed in 1954, BK began expanding its menu by adding the Whopper
Whopper
The Whopper sandwich is the signature hamburger product sold by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King and its Australian franchise Hungry Jacks. Introduced in 1957, it has undergone several reformulations including resizing and bread changes...
sandwich in 1957, and has since added non-beef items such as chicken, fish, and vegetarian offerings, including salads and meatless sandwiches. Other additions include a breakfast menu and beverages such as Icees, juices, and bottled waters. As the company expanded both inside and outside the United States, it introduced localized versions
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
of its products that conform to regional tastes and cultural or religious beliefs. To generate additional sales, BK occasionally introduces limited-time offers of special versions of its products, or brings out completely new products intended for either long- or short-term sales. Not all of these products and services have been successful; in 1993, Burger King introduced limited table service featuring special dinner platters, but this concept failed to generate interest and was discontinued.
The company introduced the first iteration of its breakfast menu, along with the company's "Specialty Sandwich" product line, in a 1978 menu expansion. The products were some of the first designed by a fast food restaurant chain that were intended to capture the adult market, members of which would be willing to spend more on a higher-quality product. The expanded Burger King menu was part of a plan by then-company president Donald N. Smith to reach the broadest possible demographic market to better compete with McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
, and to fend off then newcomer Wendy's
Wendy's
Wendy's is an international fast food chain restaurant founded by Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The company decided to move its headquarters to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. It has been owned by Triarc since 2008...
, who had a growing market share. The plan was successful: the company's sales increased by 15 percent. Despite another menu expansion in 1985, the company's market gains diminished due to neglect of the brand at the hands of then-parent Pillsbury and its successors, Grand Metropolitan
Grand Metropolitan
Grand Metropolitan plc is a former United Kingdom-based company operating hotels, holiday centres, entertainment centres, public houses and casinos...
and Diageo
Diageo
Diageo plc is a global alcoholic beverages company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest producer of spirits and a major producer of beer and wine....
. When the company was sold to a group led by TPG Capital in 2004, the trend of targeting an expanded audience was renewed under a plan by its then-CEO Brad Blum
Brad Blum
Brad Blum was the CEO of Burger King from December 2002 to July 2, 2004. He joined the company from Darden Restaurants where he had headed the Olive Garden unit, but left after only 18 months citing strategic differences with Burger King's board. Blum's successor, Greg Brenneman, was appointed on...
. During Blum's tenure, the company added several products that featured higher-quality ingredients and other menu fare that again attempted to appeal to the adult palate and demographic. As in the past, not all of these products met corporate sales expectations, or in the case of several of its larger offerings, resulted in negative publicity due to nutritional concerns.
Like its menu, the equipment the company cooks its hamburgers with has also evolved as the company grew. The burgers have always been broiled mechanically; the original unit, called an Insta-Broiler, was one of two pieces of equipment the founders of Insta-Burger King purchased before opening their new restaurant. The Insta-Broiler worked by cooking 12 burger patties in a wire basket, allowing the patties to be cooked from both sides simultaneously. With the acquisition of the chain by its Miami franchisees came an improved unit dubbed a "Flame Broiler". Designed by the new owners, it featured stationary burners that cooked the meat on a moving chain. The unit broke down less often, while maintaining a similar cooking rate. The cooking format remained for the next 40 years until Burger King developed a, new variable speed broiler that could handle multiple items with different cooking rates and times. These new unit began testing in 1999 and eventually evolved into the two models the company deployed system-wide in 2008–2009. Accompanying these new broilers was new food-holding equipment and a computer-based product monitoring system for its cooked products. The new system allows for more concise tracking of product quality, while giving its users a method to streamline costs by more precisely projecting sales and product usage.
Sandwiches and entrées
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
, the company's menu consisted predominantly of hamburgers, french fries, soft drinks, and desserts. Insta-Burger King was acquired in 1954 by two of its franchisees, James McLamore
James McLamore
James Whitman McLamore was co-founder of the Burger King fast food franchise with David Edgerton. McLamore attended Northfield Mount Hermon School before matriculating at Cornell University....
and David Edgerton
David Edgerton
David R. Edgerton is an American entrepreneur and the founder of the Burger King Corporation.On March 1, 1954, he opened the restaurant Insta Burger King in Miami, Florida, U.S. On June 1 of the same year, he met James McLamore and the two founded the Burger King Corporation.Edgerton graduated...
, who renamed it Burger King. Under its new ownership, the company continued to develop its core menu, cooking techniques, and equipment. In 1957 McLamore and Edgerton created BK's signature item, the Whopper
Whopper
The Whopper sandwich is the signature hamburger product sold by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King and its Australian franchise Hungry Jacks. Introduced in 1957, it has undergone several reformulations including resizing and bread changes...
, as a way to differentiate BK from other burger outlets at the time. The Whopper is a 4 oz (113.4 g) hamburger with lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, pickle, and ketchup, that was priced at 29¢. The sandwich was designed to give the customer a larger product with better value than competitors, who were selling burgers with an average price of 15¢. As Burger King's flagship product, the Whopper has been expanded beyond the original sandwich into a line of sandwiches all made with the same ingredients. The Whopper sandwich has undergone several modifications in its recipe over the years, with a change from a plain bun to a sesame seed roll in the early 1970s and a change in patty size in the mid-1980s being two of the most notable. Since its inception, the Whopper has become synonymous with Burger King and become the focus of much of its advertising. The company has even named its kiosk-style restaurants "Whopper Bars
BK Whopper Bar
The BK Whopper Bar is limited service concept created by fast-food restaurant Burger King in 2009.- Format :The Whopper Bar is a concept from the company that upends its traditional fast food operations with a newer high end concept designed to compete with fast casual and casual dining restaurants...
".
In 1978, Donald N. Smith was hired from McDonald's to help restructure the corporate operations of Burger King to better compete against his former company as well as the then up-and-coming chain, Wendy's
Wendy's
Wendy's is an international fast food chain restaurant founded by Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The company decided to move its headquarters to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. It has been owned by Triarc since 2008...
. As part of an operational overhaul he dubbed "Operation Phoenix", one of his first changes to the company's menu was to add the Burger King specialty sandwich line in 1979. This line—with many non-hamburger sandwiches, including chicken and fish—significantly expanded the breadth of the BK menu. It was one of the first attempts by a major fast food chain to target a specific demographic, in this case adults aged between 18 and 34 years, members of which were presumably willing spend more on a higher quality product. The new products were successful, and the company's sales increased by 15 percent. While most of the line has since been discontinued, the company's Original Chicken Sandwich
Original Chicken Sandwich
The Original Chicken Sandwich is a chicken sandwich sold by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King. It is the "basic" chicken sandwich sold at Burger King...
is still offered in all of its global markets, and the ham and cheese sandwich is a regional offering.
BK Chicken Tenders
BK Chicken Tenders
BK Chicken Tenders are a fried chicken product sold by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King. It is one of their snack oriented products designed for convenience of consumption.-Product description:...
made their debut in a menu revision and expansion in 1985 to address the absence of a chicken-based finger product akin to McDonald's Chicken McNuggets
Chicken McNuggets
Chicken McNuggets are a product offered by international fast-food restaurant chain McDonald's and are one of the most popular trademarked items on the McDonald's menu....
. The product had to be temporarily withdrawn because of limited availability of chicken meat; it was re-introduced about six months later. Originally made with sliced fillet
Fillet (cut)
A fillet is a cut or slice of boneless meat or fish.- Meat :In the case of beef, in the USA, the term most often refers to beef tenderloin, especially filet mignon.- Chicken :...
s of chicken, the product was changed to a formed chopped-chicken product several years later. Fish Tenders were introduced to complement Chicken Tenders during a menu expansion in 1989. The new fish product, sold in the same style of container as the Chicken Tenders, was an order of fish sticks with Tartar sauce for dipping. Portion sizes were similar to those of the Chicken Tenders. Fish Tenders were discontinued in 1990.
The company introduced its first broiled chicken sandwich
BK grilled chicken sandwiches
International fast-food restaurant chain Burger King has introduced a variety of grilled chicken sandwiches to its products portfolio since 1990. The current iteration in the majority of its markets is the TenderGrill chicken sandwich, with some of its other markets still utilizing the older...
, the BK Broiler, in 1990. The sandwich included a dill-ranch mayonnaise and was served on an oat-bran roll. In 1998, BK reformulated the BK Broiler into a larger, more male-oriented sandwich: a larger chicken patty with mayonnaise served on a Whopper bun. In 2002, BK changed the name of the sandwich to Chicken Whopper and added a smaller Chicken Whopper Jr. sandwich. The company replaced the Chicken Whopper line with another broiled sandwich line in 2003, the BK Baguette line. The chicken sandwich, served on a fresh cooked baguette roll, and came in several varieties, all of which were topped with a series of ingredients that were low in fat. They were sold in the United States at one time, but are now sold only in the European market. The failed Baguette line was replaced in North America with the current grilled chicken iteration, the TenderGrill sandwich.
Although Wendy's was the first to have a value menu in 1989, Burger King decided to offer its own value menu in 1998. This menu featured seven products: the Whopper Jr., a five-piece Chicken Tenders, a bacon cheeseburger, medium-sized french fries, medium soft drink, medium onion rings, and a small milkshake – all priced at 99¢ (USD). In 2002 and 2006, BK revamped its value menu by adding and removing several products such as chili
Chili con carne
Chili con carne is a spicy stew. The name of the dish derives from the Spanish chile con carne, "chili pepper with meat". Traditional versions are made, minimally, from chili peppers, garlic, onions, and cumin, along with chopped or ground beef. Beans and tomatoes are frequently included...
and the Rodeo Cheeseburger. Many of these items, such as Chili, tacos, the Sourdough burger (a product similar to the Whopper Jr., but with sourdough bread), and Chicken Tender sandwiches have since been discontinued, modified, or relegated to regional menu options.
Returning to the practice of targeting the adult demographic as it had in 1978, BK introduced several new products to its menu in 2003. The new products included new or revamped chicken sandwiches, a new salad line, and its BK Joe brand of coffee. The first of these items was the TenderCrisp
Tendercrisp
The TenderCrisp is a chicken sandwich sold by Burger King, an international fast-food restaurant chain. It is one of their "indulgent" products....
chicken sandwich, an entirely new sandwich which featured a fried 5.2 oz (147.4 g) whole-muscle chicken breast on a corn-dusted roll. The sandwich was part of then-CEO Greg Brenneman
Greg Brenneman
Gregory D. Brenneman is the Chairman of CCMP Capital, a private equity firm. Most recently, Brenneman had served as president and CEO of CCMP-owned Quiznos Sub, a fast-food sandwich chain. Brenneman also serves on the board of directors of The Home Depot, Inc...
's plans to bolster the company's revived "Have it your way" advertising program, which was designed to draw younger people to its stores. Some items, including the Enormous Omelet Sandwich
Enormous Omelet Sandwich
The Enormous Omelet Sandwich is a breakfast sandwich sold by the fast-food restaurant chain Burger King. It is one of their late teen to young adult male oriented products...
line and the BK Stacker line, brought negative attention due the large portion size, amounts of unhealthy fats, and the presence of trans-fats. At the time, many of the products featured higher-quality ingredients like whole chicken breast, Angus beef, Cheddar cheese, and pepper jack cheese. Not all the products new products introduced under Blum's tenure met corporate sales expectations, the Baguette Chicken sandwiches being an example. Others products, such as Burger King's line of "indulgent" burgers originally called the Angus Burger, have undergone multiple reformulations. The Angus Steak burger was originally based around a 5 oz (141.7 g) frozen patty; despite high expectations from the company, the sandwich fared poorly. After a reformulating program, it was relaunched in 2008 as the 5 oz (141.7 g) Angus Steakhouse burger. With the introduction of a new multifunction broiler capable of cooking a more diverse set of products, Burger King replaced the Angus Steakhouse burger with the 7 oz (198.4 g) Steakhouse XT burger in 2009.
Ancillaries
Potato starch
Potato starch is starch extracted from potatoes. The cells of the root tubers of the potato plant contain starch grains . To extract the starch, the potatoes are crushed; the starch grains are released from the destroyed cells...
, giving the fries a crisp shell that maintained its texture longer. The company introduced them in a series of advertisements that claimed the new fries tasted better than McDonald's fries in consumer taste comparisons. Other ads featured Mr. Potato Head
Mr. Potato Head
Mr. Potato Head! is an American toy consisting of a plastic model of a potato which can be decorated with a variety of plastic parts that can attach to the main body. These parts usually include ears, eyes, shoes, a hat, a nose, and a mouth. The toy was invented and developed by George Lerner in...
in a series of demographically-targeted commercials. The fries were in research and development for over two years and already had been available in several markets when the advertising campaign began. In Europe, BK also sells potato wedges
Potato wedges
Potato wedges, also called jojos in some parts of the United States, are a variation of french fries. As its name suggests, they are large, often unpeeled wedges of potatoes that are either baked or fried....
, a type of French fry that is thick-cut and wedge-shaped. In 1991, the company introduced Twister fries, spiral-cut fries with a spicy coating, as part of a promotional push. Part of the product's appeal was they were served in a paper drink cup as opposed to the normal fry carton. The product was designed as a short-term promotion that would be periodically reintroduced.
In 2002, Burger King offered "Shake 'em up Fries", which included a bag of fries and a packet of spices. The customer would add the spices to the fries and then shake the bag until the fries were coated.
Beyond French fries, the company has introduced several other side products over the course of its existence. Onion rings
Onion rings
Onion rings are a form of fast food commonly found in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and some parts of Asia. They generally consist of a cross-sectional "ring" of onion dipped in batter or breading and then deep fried; a variant is made with onion paste...
have been part of the menu for the majority of BK history. Originally made from whole, sliced onions, they were reformulated into a formed product made from onion paste in 2001 as part of a menu revamp. In the same 2001 menu revamp, the company added an onion ring-specific dipping sauce, and emphasized it again during its 99¢ BK Value Menu introduction in 2002. As part of its BK Cravers value menu introduction in 2005, the company briefly sold jalapeño popper
Jalapeño popper
Jalapeño poppers are jalapeño peppers that have been hollowed out, stuffed with a mixture of cheese, spices, and sometimes ground meat. They are either then breaded and deep fried or prepared unbreaded, wrapped in bacon, and baked or grilled...
s accompanied by a side of ranch dressing
Ranch dressing
Ranch dressing is a condiment made of some combination of buttermilk, sour cream, yogurt, mayonnaise, minced green onion, garlic powder, and other seasonings mixed into a sauce. Ranch dressing has been the best-selling salad dressing in the United States since 1992, when it overtook Italian dressing...
as part of its national menu. The same menu added mozzarella sticks
Mozzarella sticks
Mozzarella sticks are elongated pieces of battered or breaded mozzarella cheese. The deep-fried snack is often served at restaurants as an appetizer or as North American pub fare...
with a side of marinara sauce
Marinara Sauce
Marinara sauce is a southern Italian tomato sauce usually made with tomatoes, garlic, herbs , and onion. However, there are many variations. Some of these include the addition of capers, olives, anchovies, and/or spices....
; the mozzarella sticks have since been relegated to a regional menu item in the United States, but are sold on the national menu in Canada.
Breakfast
One of Smith's significant contributions to the menu was the addition of a breakfast product line as part of the 1978 product line expansion. Up until that point, breakfast was not a market Burger King had served. Other than the addition of the Croissan'Wich in 1983, the breakfast menu remained almost identical to the McDonald's offerings until a menu revamp in 1986. This expansion introduced BK's A.M. Express product line, which included French toastFrench toast
French toast or Eggy Bread, is a food made with bread and eggs. It is a Christmas time dessert in Portugal and Brazil.Where French toast is served as a sweet dish, milk, sugar, or cinnamon are also commonly added before frying, and it may be then topped with sugar, butter, fruit, syrup, or other...
sticks and mini-muffins. The new breakfast line was designed to be portable, because studies had shown that an increasing percent of consumers were eating breakfast on the go. Shortly after the introduction of the french toast stick products, BK partnered with Lender's Bagels
Lender's Bagels
Lender's Bagels is a brand and producer of bagels that pioneered the bagel industry in the United States. Established in 1927 in New Haven, Connecticut, it became a North American leader in the marketing, distribution and sales of bagels. Lender's introduced frozen bagels and sold the first...
to introduce a bagel breakfast sandwich. The new product was designed to drive sales in the morning by piquing customer's curiosity with a new taste. The product was tested for several months in BK's original home territory of Miami before a national roll-out.
In the late 1990s, BK co-branded several of its breakfast products with former parent Pillsbury; Pillsbury produced a fresh-baked biscuit product for the chain in 1996 and miniature cinnamon rolls called Cini-Minis in 1998. As part of the cachet built into the products, Burger King advertises that products are cooked fresh in the restaurant each morning.
With the effects of the late-2000s recession reducing breakfast traffic to the stores, Burger King announced that it was making the first wholesale changes to its breakfast line-up in many years. In early 2010, Burger King tested a new group of breakfast products under its new BK Brunch product line; a reintroduced English muffin sandwich, a sandwich featuring ciabatta
Ciabatta
Ciabatta is an Italian white bread made with wheat flour and yeast. The loaf is somewhat elongated, broad and flattish. There are many variations of ciabatta.Ciabatta in its modern form was developed in 1982...
bread, a pair of breakfast bowls, and a non-alcoholic mimosa
Mimosa
Mimosa is a genus of about 400 species of herbs and shrubs, in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the legume family Fabaceae. The generic name is derived from the Greek word μιμος , meaning "mimic."...
. In September, a slightly modified variation of the menu was taken national during one of the largest menu expansions in the company's history. Chief Marketing Officer Mike Kappitt said breakfast produced 12 percent of the company's income, but that was only half of what McDonald's made. Part of the expansion was a major advertising campaign that encouraged people to change their minds about skipping breakfast at a time of high unemployment.
Regionalization
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, pork is not served due to Muslim dietary laws. In Muslim countries, meat is slaughtered using the halal method and labeled as such. Similar adaptations also occurred in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, where kosher
Kashrut
Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér , meaning "fit" Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus) is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed...
dietary laws forbid the mixture of meat and dairy products. Before the company exited the country in 2010, many of its locations in Israel were fully kosher.
In many international markets, BK offers products or condiments that fit local tastes. For example, in Canada, BK offers poutine
Poutine
Poutine is a Canadian dish of French fries and fresh cheese curds, covered with brown gravy or sauce. Sometimes additional ingredients are added.Poutine is a fast food dish that originated in Quebec and can now be found across Canada...
gravy and vinegar for its french fries, and peri-peri sauce is available as a sandwich topping in the United Kingdom. Hungry Jack's
Hungry Jack's
Hungry Jack's Pty Ltd, often colloquially abbreviated to HJ's, Hungry's or Hungie's, is the exclusive Australian master fast food franchisee of Burger King Corporation. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Competitive Foods Australia, a privately held company owned by Jack Cowin...
, Burger King's Australian franchise, offers the "Aussie burger" with fried egg, beetroot, and other Australian flavors. In Asian markets, dark-meat chicken is preferred over white meat, and poultry products sold in these markets often are advertised as such. One of the more regionally differentiated lines of products is the company's dessert offerings. In the United States, BK offers several desserts, including Otis Spunkmeyer
Otis Spunkmeyer
Otis Spunkmeyer Inc. is a baked goods distribution company widely known for its name and flagship line of muffins and cookies. Although a relatively small company, Otis Spunkmeyer has enjoyed a large amount of success in the industry, with clients ranging from small family-owned businesses and...
chocolate-chip cookies, apple pie slices, Hershey's
The Hershey Company
The Hershey Company, known until April 2005 as the Hershey Foods Corporation and commonly called Hershey's, is the largest chocolate manufacturer in North America. Its headquarters are in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which is also home to Hershey's Chocolate World. It was founded by Milton S...
Sundae
Sundae
The sundae is an ice cream dessert. It typically consists of a scoop of ice cream topped with sauce or syrup, and in some cases other toppings including chopped nuts, sprinkles, whipped cream, or maraschino cherries.-History:...
pie slices (a type of chocolate creme pie), and a rotating pie as part of its dessert menu. Internationally the company sells turnovers
Turnover (food)
A turnover is a kind of pastry made by placing a filling on a piece of dough, folding the dough over, and sealing it. Turnovers can be sweet or savory and are often made as a sort of portable meal or dessert, similar to a sandwich....
, tortas
Tart
A tart is a baked dish consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top not covered with pastry. The pastry is usually shortcrust pastry; the filling may be sweet or savoury, though modern tarts are usually fruit-based, sometimes with custard....
, Cini-Minis, muffins, brownies
Chocolate brownie
A chocolate brownie is a flat, baked square or bar introduced in the United States at the end of the nineteenth century and popularized in both the U.S. and Canada during the first half of the twentieth century. The brownie is sliced from a type of dense, rich chocolate cake, which is, in texture,...
, and vanilla soft-serve ice cream in cones and sundaes. In most markets where BK sells ice cream, it also sells a mix-in dessert under various names. Some of these international dessert products differ from the domestic products in terms of preparation; an example is the pies sold in Asian countries that are fried, turnover-style, instead of the deep-dish tart style associated with American sweet-filled pies.
Preparation methods
Burger King cooks its foods in one of four ways: broilingGrilling
Grilling is a form of cooking that involves dry heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above or below.Grilling usually involves a significant amount of direct, radiant heat, and tends to be used for cooking meat quickly and meat that has already been cut into slices...
, deep frying
Deep frying
Deep frying is a cooking method in which food is submerged in hot oil or fat. This is normally performed with a deep fryer or chip pan; industrially, a pressure fryer or vacuum fryer may be used....
, baking
Baking
Baking is the technique of prolonged cooking of food by dry heat acting by convection, and not by radiation, normally in an oven, but also in hot ashes, or on hot stones. It is primarily used for the preparation of bread, cakes, pastries and pies, tarts, quiches, cookies and crackers. Such items...
, or microwaving. As noted in its mottos and advertisements, BK cooks its burgers and grilled chicken on an automated grill, while its other chicken products, fish, sides, and breakfast sausage are deep-fried in vegetable oil. BK prepares its eggs, biscuits, Cini-Minis, and cookies by baking in a convection oven
Convection oven
Although the word convection is usually used to describe the natural circulation of gas or liquid caused by temperature differences, the convection in "convection oven" has a more general definition: the transfer of heat via movement of gas or liquid...
and microwaves its BK Veggie burger patty.
Broiling
The predecessor to Burger King, Insta-Burger King, began deploying the original broiling device in 1952 when its owners, Matthew Burns and Kieth Kramer, acquired the rights to George Read's Inst-Shake and Insta-Broiler machines. The Insta-Broiler cooked the burgers in a wire basket between two broilers, allowing the burgers to be cooked on both sides simultaneously. The machine was capable of cooking over 400 patties per hour, which allowed the company to grow rapidly. When McLamore and Edgarton opened their first Insta-Burger King location in Miami, they revamped the unit into what they called a "flame broiler" – the forerunner of the modern unit used by Burger King today. After the acquisition of Insta-Burger King in 1954, the pair contracted the construction of the newly designed flame broilers to the SaniServ company of IndianapolisIndianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
, Indiana, for the initial run of broilers. Eventually, the company moved the manufacturing contract for the broiler units to Nieco Automatic Broilers of Windsor, California
Windsor, California
Windsor is an incorporated town in Sonoma County, California, United States. The population was 26,801 as of the 2010 census.-Geography:Windsor is located on U.S. Route 101 in the Russian River valley, about southeast of Healdsburg, California....
, who manufactured all subsequent units until the start of the 2000s.
When the time came for the company to develop a new broiler, it turned to its equipment manufacturer, Nieco, and St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
-based Duke Manufacturing
Duke Manufacturing Company
Duke Manufacturing Co. designs and manufactures foodservice equipment for major restaurant chains, schools, and institutions. It is one of the 150 largest privately-held companies in St. Louis, Missouri. The company has two Missouri manufacturing facilities and distribution and service centers in...
. Burger King's goal was to maintain the company's trademark flame broiling method while allowing more product options on a flexible cooking platform. The solutions that Nieco and Duke devised met that goal by using control features during cooking. The cooking methods employed by the two manufacturing companies vary in their methods; Nieco employed two chains, one that maintained a single speed and cooking temperature, and another that had a flexible speed setting and variable temperature control. Duke's solution utilizes an oven that cooks according to preset parameters for time and temperature, one heterogeneous product batch at a time. The first batch-style broiler was introduced in April 1999 and was tested in-store in central Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
during the summer of 1999.
Beyond the flexibility of the new broilers, the new equipment has several features intended to decrease operational costs. A more efficient design of the burners in the Nieco units produces a 30 percent reduction in energy consumption. The Duke units produce a $4,000 -$5,000 annual savings on energy compared to the original units, which ran approximately at full capacity all day. The units are so fuel-efficient that in many US states, the company and its franchises qualify for energy-efficiency rebates. However, and issue arose in September 2011 when the state of Washington state department of health warned Burger King of issues with the Duke units. In multiple incidents in seven counties throughout the state, the Duke units were found to have cracked heat spreaders which resulted in under cooked products. Additionally, there was foreign material contamination caused by loose insulation resulting from the cracks as well as other issues. Upon notification, Burger King released a statement that the company has notified franchisees and corporate-owned stores operating the Duke units with orders to repair the problem immediately. Additional training for operators was also ordered.
Kitchen equipment
Before any products are sold, the company pre-cooks the ingredients and holds them in a heated holding cabinet. To ensure that product consistency is maintained and to reduce the amount of products discarded as waste, Burger King utilizes a computerized monitoring system created by Integrated Control Corp, or ICC. The system, called Kitchen Minder, monitors time and temperature in the cabinets and notifies staff and managers when to prepare more food and discard older products. Initially developed from 1998 to 2000, the system is designed to work with a holding cabinet system that was developed by Duke. The initial test designs were time-consuming to program because each bay in the holding units had to be programmed manually. This meant several minutes were required for each product, which added up to several hours to program up to six units with eight bays each. When BK finally deployed the system in 2001, the updated units utilized a Palm Pilot to configure the units using a custom program designed to easily configure the units via InfraredInfrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
or serial port
Serial port
In computing, a serial port is a serial communication physical interface through which information transfers in or out one bit at a time...
. A kitchen flow software system that helps centralize information about the system was deployed in 2007; combined with the new equipment, it helped further reduce costs for the company and its franchises by calculating projected sales and actual usage. Along with the holding system, Burger King deployed newer high-speed toasters to decrease make times; the new toasters, while faster, require more maintenance, which increases overall labor costs.
Sandwich preparation
During periods of high-volume sales, BK will pre-prepare high-demand items such as hamburgers and cheeseburgers; during slower periods all sandwiches are made to order. The Whopper sandwiches, Angus burgers, TenderGrill and TenderCrisp chicken sandwiches, and BK Veggies are all made when ordered.Value
BK targets "value-oriented" customers with its BK Value Menu. In the United States, this menu contains products that are usually priced in the $1.00 to $1.49 range. In non-US markets, the BK Value Menu typically takes on a different name, with prices set to reflect the approximate value of one US dollar. Internationally, the company is standardizing its value menu under the King Deals banners that features items for sale at €1.00 in the EU and one dirhamUnited Arab Emirates dirham
The dirham is the currency of the United Arab Emirates. The ISO 4217 code for the United Arab Emirates dirham is AED. Unofficial abbreviations include DH or Dhs. The dirham is subdivided into 100 ....
in Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
. In all the markets, the value menu usually includes smaller sandwiches and entrées, small-sized side orders, small-sized drinks, and desserts. In the United States, the value menu has a breakfast offering in the same format as the lunch/dinner value menu.
Children
As with all major fast food vendors, BK has a menu that specifically targets children. The company introduced its child-oriented product line in North America during the summer of 1990 with an advertising program called the Burger King Kid's Club. In the United States, the meal is called the Kids Club Meal and it is primarily positioned against the popular Happy MealHappy Meal
A "Happy Meal" is a meal specifically marketed at children, sold at the fast-food chain McDonald's since June 1979. A toy is typically included with the food, both of which are usually contained in a small box or paper bag with the McDonald's logo....
from McDonald's. The meal includes an entrée, a side order, beverage, and a toy. The toy is usually a product tie-in with a movie or popular television show. The entrée and side offerings differ from market to market, as does portion size.
In the North American market, BK further divides its children's menu into three segments: toddler, kids, and "tween". The only difference between the first two groups is the prize offering; the toddler will receive an age-appropriate toy. The toys were originally designed by Kentwood, Michigan
Kentwood, Michigan
Kentwood is a city in Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 48,707 at the 2010 census, making it the second most populous suburb of Grand Rapids and the 25th most populous city in Michigan.-History:...
-based Sassy Inc., and were introduced in 2000 as a supplement to the company's existing children's line. Burger King changed its toddler toy designer to Hudson, Ohio
Hudson, Ohio
Hudson is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 22,262 at the 2010 census. It is an affluent exurban community and is part of the Akron, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area...
-based Little Tikes
Little Tikes
Little Tikes is an American-based manufacturer of children's toys, with headquarters and manufacturing located in Hudson, Ohio. The company also has other manufacturing and distribution facilities in Asia and Europe...
in 2003.
The tween offering, introduced in 1999, is called the Big Kids Meal. The Big Kids Meals consist of a double hamburger, a double cheeseburger, or a six-piece serving of Chicken Tenders plus a small order of fries, and a 16 USoz drink, and a toy. Further additions to the line included a six-piece serving of the company's Chicken Fries product. The introduction of the Big Kids Meal was not without controversy. McDonald's challenged Burger King's use of the name in a federal suit that claimed McDonald's had used the name first. According to the filing, McDonald's stated the company had used the term in a limited manner in Michigan in 1998 as part of a promotion in Detroit. The suit was judged to be without merit and dismissed in a summary judgment
Summary judgment
In law, a summary judgment is a determination made by a court without a full trial. Such a judgment may be issued as to the merits of an entire case, or of specific issues in that case....
.
Adult
Chili's
Chili's Grill & Bar is a restaurant chain founded by Larry Lavine. The chain has more than 1400 casual dining restaurants, mostly located in the United States and Canada...
and leave the fast food chains back where they started in terms of customer numbers and profits.
BK targets specific sub-groups within the adult market. Products like the BK Stacker and BK XXL
BK XXL
The BK XXL line of sandwiches is a family of larger, 1/2 pound double cheeseburgers sold by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King in the European and Middle Eastern markets...
are aimed at late teen to young adult males; health-conscious individuals are offered products such as salads, grilled chicken, and veggie burgers. Products such as the BK Veggie, a meatless burger initially introduced in 2002, target the female and health-oriented demographic using a co-branded marketing program and a patty produced by the Kellogg Company
Kellogg Company
Kellogg Company , is a producer of cereal and convenience foods, including cookies, crackers, toaster pastries, cereal bars, fruit-flavored snacks, frozen waffles, and vegetarian foods...
's Morningstar Farms
Morningstar Farms
Morningstar Farms is a division of the Kellogg Company that produces vegetarian food. Many of their offerings are meatless variations of traditionally meat-based products, including some that are vegan...
division. Another sub-market in this group is on-the-go parents and commuters; The company's BK Chicken Fries
BK Chicken Fries
BK Chicken Fries are chicken fries sold by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King. According to Burger King marketing, it is one of their larger, adult oriented products made with higher quality ingredients than their "standard" menu items...
—French-fry cut pieces of breaded chicken—is specifically targeted to this segment. First introduced in 2005, the product was successful enough that Burger King expanded the marketing of chicken fries to the children's demographic with a kid's meal version of the product in 2007. The meal was launched with a cross-promotion in conjunction with Nickelodeon's
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
SpongeBob SquarePants
SpongeBob SquarePants
SpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated television series, created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg. Much of the series centers on the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the underwater city of "Bikini Bottom"...
. The series of commercials raised the ire of the American Family Association
American Family Association
The American Family Association is a 501 non-profit organization that promotes conservative Christian values, such as opposition to same-sex marriage, pornography, and abortion, as well as other public policy goals such as deregulation of the oil industry and lobbying against the Employee Free...
due to perceived nudity concerns.
The "Superfan"
One particular market target that was of importance to the company was identified as the "Superfan". The superfan was a demographic group that included individuals that are 18 to 49 years old, primarily male, who would visit a fast-food restaurant five times a month and eat fast food 16 times a month. Burger King and their competitors hope to attract this group because of the large sums of money that they represent; an increase in sales to this group could drive an increase in global sales. While superfans accounted for less than 20 percent of Burger King's customer base, they accounted for nearly 50 percent of the company's business. By focusing on this demographic group, the company could increase sales more readily; it was easier to generate more repeat visits by this demographic than it was to coax new customers to switch from other chains. The company has used advertising featuring its mascot, the Burger King, in tandem with new product rollouts such as its BK Wrapper product to help generate an increased number of visits by this client segment.With the slowing of the global economy due to the financial crisis of 2007-2010, the company experienced a downside of focusing so much on this demographic group. The high unemployment of the recession, coupled with healthier eating habits, drove many customers away from fast food towards the fast-casual segment or forced them to stop eating out. Analysts have stated that by focusing its marketing and advertising programs on men, BK alienated women and children. Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City serving a diversified group of corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. Morgan Stanley also operates in 36 countries around the world, with over 600 offices and a workforce of over 60,000....
analyst John Glass stated, "Maybe catering to the super fan was the correct strategy to kick-start the business, but maybe they relied on that for too long..."
To help counter the perceived male bias of its superfan target group, the company expanded the definition in early 2010 to cover individuals of both sexes, all ages, and households who frequent fast food within the stated time frame. Throughout 2010, the company added newer calorie-conscious "Positive Steps" combo meals that were advertised in female-oriented media, as well as a continuing cross-promotional tie-in with the female-oriented Twilight film series
The Twilight Saga (film series)
The Twilight Saga is a series of supernatural romance fantasy films from Summit Entertainment based on the four Twilight series novels by the American author Stephenie Meyer. The films star Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner. The series has grossed over $2 billion in worldwide...
.
Nutrition
One of the company's first forays into healthier products was in 1983 with introduction of its salad barSalad bar
A salad bar is a buffet-style table or counter at a restaurant or food market on which salad components are provided for customers to assemble their own salad plates...
. The salad bar met with light to moderate success, but the company's franchise holders complained of high operating costs and a poor return on investment. Part of the product, a pita salad, was quickly dropped from the salad bar, as were plans to use the bar unit to boost breakfast sales. In 1987 the company augmented its salad bar with a test line of prepackaged salads, including chef
Chef salad
Chef salad is a salad consisting of hard-boiled eggs; one or more meats such as ham, turkey, chicken, or roast beef; tomatoes; cucumbers; and cheese; all placed upon a bed of tossed lettuce or other leaf vegetables. Several early recipes also include anchovies...
and garden salad
Garden salad
A garden salad is a salad consisting mostly of fresh vegetables. The base for the salad are greens such as lettuce or mesclun....
s. The salad bar was eventually eliminated in favor of packaged salads. In 1990, BK introduced a new salad line accompanied by a licensing agreement with Paul Newman
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
's Newman's Own, Inc.
Newman's Own
Newman's Own is a food company and for-profit corporation founded by actor Paul Newman and author A. E. Hotchner in 1982. Newman received all of the profits from product sales and donated 100% of the proceeds, after taxes, to various educational and charitable organizations of his own selection...
, whose salad dressings accompanied the products. Burger King revamped its salad line again in 2004, with the introduction of its Fire Grilled Salad products. Burger King sought to differentiate this line of salads by packaging the warm meat toppings—a choice of grilled shrimp or broiled chicken—separately from the cold salad; this added the appearance of an additional layer of freshness. Currently in the United States, the salads are pre-made off-site. They are sold with two toppings and Ken's Foods
Ken's Foods
Ken's Foods is privately held food manufacturing company located in Marlborough, Massachusetts. Ken's primary products are salad dressings, sauces and marinades...
Ken's Steakhouse brand salad dressing. Internationally, the salads vary in composition and style from market to market. In all markets, salads are one of the items targeted at female and health-conscious consumers. In parts of Europe, salads are sold under the "King Delight" or "LA Range" banner.
Hydrogenation
Hydrogenation, to treat with hydrogen, also a form of chemical reduction, is a chemical reaction between molecular hydrogen and another compound or element, usually in the presence of a catalyst. The process is commonly employed to reduce or saturate organic compounds. Hydrogenation typically...
. The program ended in early 2009 with a complete changeover to the new oils. Most, but not all, of the products contain no added trans-fats; some products, such as the beef used in the hamburgers, still contain naturally-occurring trans-fats.
To address concerns over the increase in childhood obesity in Western nations and accusations of unhealthy offerings for children by groups such as the Center for Science in the Public Interest
Center for Science in the Public Interest
Center for Science in the Public Interest is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit watchdog and consumer advocacy group focusing on nutritional education and awareness.-History and funding:...
, the company created a nutritional program called "BK Positive Steps" that is aimed at children and their families. The program began with the introduction of products such as broiled Chicken Tenders, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, and apple "fries", which are french cut apples served in a fry box that are featured in a new low-fat Kid's Club Meal. According to a statement by Burger King, the new Kid's Club meals contain no more than 560 calories per meal, less than 30 percent of calories from fat, less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fat, no added trans fats, and no more than 10 percent of calories from added sugars. Additional changes to its menu were announced in May 2009, including the reduction of sodium levels in its Chicken Tenders product by approximately 33 percent; a switch to non-fat milk products in the U.S.; and adding calcium-fortified apple juice to its beverage line-up. The broiled Chicken Tenders product is only sold in the UK/Ireland market. The product line has been expanded to include a boiled mini chicken sandwich for the kid's meals in this region.
The company has adapted its menu to accommodate different dietary lifestyles by adding several vegetarian options, including salads, the BK Veggie sandwich, and its deep-fried spicy bean burger that is sold in Burger King's international locations. The majority of these products do not qualify as vegan due to the presence of egg or dairy products; an example is the BK Veggie, which is approved by the British Vegetarian Society
Vegetarian Society
The Vegetarian Society is a British registered charity established on 30 September 1847 to "support, represent and increase the number of vegetarians in the UK."-History:...
. Society guidelines do not require their approved products to be vegan, and allow ovo-lacto-vegetarian
Lacto-ovo vegetarianism
A Lacto-ovo-vegetarian is a vegetarian who does not eat animal flesh of any kind, but is willing to consume dairy and egg products...
ingredients. The Veggie Burger is widely sold in other countries, sometimes under different names (for example, it is called a "Country Burger" in Germany). Burger King added low-carb variants of several of its products in 2004 that are in accordance with high-protein diets such as the Atkins diet
Atkins Nutritional Approach
The Atkins diet, officially called the Atkins Nutritional Approach, is a low-carbohydrate diet created by Robert Atkins from a research paper he read in the Journal of the American Medical Association published by Gordon Azar and Walter Lyons Bloom. Atkins stated that he used the study to resolve...
and the South Beach Diet
South Beach Diet
The South Beach Diet is a diet plan designed by cardiologist Arthur Agatston and dietician Marie Almon as an alternative to low-fat approaches such as the Ornish Diet and the Pritikin Diet advocated by the American Heart Association in the 1980s. Although the original purpose of the diet was to...
. Low-carbohydrate preparation consists of eliminating the bread and serving the product in a bowl with silverware.
In January 2010, BK began to publish a list of which of their products that contain gluten
Gluten
Gluten is a protein composite found in foods processed from wheat and related grain species, including barley and rye...
and added menu options designed to help those afflicted with Celiac disease as part of its "Positive Steps" nutrition program. A company representative stated that it understands that its guests have individual dietary needs, and as part of its "Have It Your Way" promise, Burger King offers menu items for individuals with gluten sensitivity. BK food is prepared with several known food allergens, including wheat, milk, soy, and eggs.
Products
The range of products sold usually depends on the time of day. Lunch items such as hamburgers and fries are traditionally not served during breakfast time. However, some BK stores do sell food under their "Burgers for Breakfast" program. While for several years the company dictated hours to its franchisees in the United States, that changed with the sale of the company in 2010. The new owners relaxed the mandated hours for stores to be open from 6 am to midnight Monday through Saturday and 7 am to midnight on Sundays; franchises were encouraged to stay open later or for 24 hours in markets that could support the business.Packaging
Burger King's product packaging has undergone many changes over the years. Unlike McDonald's, the company never used the clamshell style box made of StyrofoamStyrofoam
Styrofoam is a trademark of The Dow Chemical Company for closed-cell currently made for thermal insulation and craft applications. In 1941, researchers in Dow's Chemical Physics Lab found a way to make foamed polystyrene...
, so when the environmental concerns over Styrofoam came to a head in the late 1980s, the company touted its use of paperboard
Paperboard
Paperboard is a thick paper based material. While there is no rigid differentiation between paper and paperboard, paperboard is generally thicker than paper. According to ISO standards, paperboard is a paper with a basis weight above 224 g/m2, but there are exceptions. Paperboard can be single...
boxes for its sandwiches. When McDonald's moved to eliminate its styrofoam packaging, Burger King ran several sarcastically-worded ads in national newspapers stating that it had always wrapped its sandwiches in waxed paper; they welcomed McDonald's "to the club". To cut back on the amount of paper that the company used, the paperboard box was mostly eliminated in 1991; it was replaced with waxed paper. Paperboard boxes are still used for its "finger food" products like Chicken Tenders and Fries, French toast
French toast
French toast or Eggy Bread, is a food made with bread and eggs. It is a Christmas time dessert in Portugal and Brazil.Where French toast is served as a sweet dish, milk, sugar, or cinnamon are also commonly added before frying, and it may be then topped with sugar, butter, fruit, syrup, or other...
sticks, and desserts.
In 2004, the company committed itself to a redesign of its entire packaging line that tied the packaging into its irreverent advertising campaign created by Crispin, Porter + Bogusky. Each product's packaging included a tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek is a phrase used as a figure of speech to imply that a statement or other production is humorously intended and it should not be taken at face value. The facial expression typically indicates that one is joking or making a mental effort. In the past, it may also have indicated...
commentary about the product itself. Alex Bogusky, partner and executive creative director of CP+B, stated that BK decided "to create a dialogue with the consumer" by utilizing the large areas of white space found on its packaging at the time. All of its sandwich wrappers, cartons, tray liners, bags, breakfast platters, chili cups, condiments, and regional product packaging received what was described as "quirky ad copy" specifically targeting the 18–34 year-old male demographic segment. Besides the humorous commentary, the company also created sniglet
Sniglet
Sniglet is a neologism, popularized by comedian/actor Rich Hall during his tenure on the 1980s HBO comedy series Not Necessarily the News. Each episode of the monthly series featured a regular segment on sniglets, which Hall described as "any word that doesn't appear in the dictionary, but should"...
-type names for things that would appear in its products, such as a "ringer" – a single onion ring that had been accidentally included in an order of fries.
Starting with the introduction of its BK Chicken Fries product in 2005, BK began adapting some of its product packaging so that it could be placed in an automotive cup holder
Cup holder
A cup holder is a device to hold a cup or other drinking vessel. It is a fixture in automobiles, trains, and other vehicles, as well as in some movie theatres, sports arenas, etc.- Automobiles :...
. The BK Chicken Fry box, while square in shape, will sit comfortably in the cup holder and its top, when opened, forms a small tray that is designed to hold dipping sauce. Burger King credits the design of this box with helping to make its Chicken Fries the most popular adult-oriented chicken product in the United States. It has since added a trademarked and patented round french fry container which it calls the "FryPod", which is a paper cup made from 50 percent recycled materials that is designed to fit in an automotive cup holder. The package design won an honorable mention at a packaging industry design competition. BK's large and King sized beverage containers are made from molded HDPE plastic with a funnel-like shaped bottom that allows the oversized cups to fit in cup holders.
Union Packaging, a minority-owned, Philadelphia-based paper products company, has supplied much of the packaging for Burger King's North American operations since winning its first contract in 2000. The original $15 million contract was for paperboard "clamshell" containers and covered 1,250 BK locations in the United States. Union was instrumental in the development of the FryPod carton, and its efforts earned the company a supplier of the year award from Burger King in 2007.
Reformulations
Over time, the company reformulates various products in an attempt to boost sales of the product or to improve the taste, appearance, or physical consistency of the product. One such example of this is the BK Big Fish, the company's fish sandwich offering in North America. Burger King's original fish sandwich, introduced as early as the late 1960s in some markets, was called the Whaler; it was a smaller fish sandwich made with tartar sauce and lettuce served on the small sesame seed roll BK used for their hamburgers. When Burger King introduced its broiled chicken sandwich in 1990, the BK Broiler, it changed the fish sandwich's breading to a pankoPanko
is a variety of flaky bread crumb used in Japanese cuisine as a crunchy coating for fried foods, such as tonkatsu. Panko is made from bread baked by passing an electric current through the dough, yielding bread without crusts, and it has a crisper, airier texture than most types of breading found...
style, began serving it on an oatmeal-dusted roll that was used for the broiled chicken sandwich, and renamed the product the Ocean Catch sandwich. When BK reformulated the BK Broiler, the company also reformulated the Ocean Catch as the BK Big Fish in its current configuration. The sandwich was again briefly reformulated after the phase-out of the Baguette sandwiches, and was reintroduced as the Big Fish in 2005.
One of the company's larger product reformulations came in March 2011. The company updated the recipe of its 25+ year-old Chicken Tender product line by reformulating the breading and spice mixture while updating the shape. The new formulation was described by the company as being "more broadly appealing" to the palate of its customers according to statement released by the company. Nation's Restaurant News
Nation's Restaurant News
Nation's Restaurant News is an American trade publication, founded in 1967, that covers the foodservice industry, including restaurants, restaurant chains, operations, marketing, and events. It is owned by Penton Media, who purchased it from founding company Lebhar-Friedman in December 2010...
analyst John Barone stated that the change may also be due to an industry wide move to chicken-based product as a result of raising commodity prices, forcing restaurants to turn towards chicken-based offerings due to the elevated pork and beef prices occurring during the previous year. He added that chicken breast costs have been down or flat during the same period, making it a more appealing choice to companies. The new product push was accompanied with a product tie-in with the movie Hop aimed at the youth market, an adult-oriented advertising campaign pushing convenience and product customization and a nationwide coupon mailing in the United States. Online advertising was emphasized with the release a Facebook gaming application it called the "Tender 8".
Limited time offers
To generate additional sales, BK will occasionally introduce limited time offers (LTO) that are versions of its core products or new products intended for either long- or short-term sales. Many of these LTO products focus on core menu products such as the Whopper, which has featured variations such as the Texas Double Whopper with added jalapeños, bacon, and pepperjack cheese. Other LTOs include all-new sandwiches like the Chick'n Crisp sandwich (now a permanent item in many regions) and test products such as the company's Great American Burger, which was an attempt at a premium sandwich in 2003. It was made with a Whopper patty and several new ingredients, including a bakery-style bun; peppered bacon; whole-leaf, as opposed to shredded, lettuce; seasoned mustard; and a special sauce. The burger was served with American cheese, mayonnaise, tomato, and onions. A similar burger was tested in Wisconsin in 1999. That Great American burger featured a single 8 oz (226.8 g) burger patty and different toppings. It was designed to be cooked on a forerunner of the current batch broiler.Other LTO products sought to expand existing product lines with new base ingredients. The company's 1993 offering, a Meatloaf
Meatloaf
Meatloaf is a dish of ground meat formed into a loaf shape and baked or smoked. The loaf shape is formed by either cooking it in a loaf pan, or forming it by hand on a flat baking pan...
Specialty Sandwich
Original Chicken Sandwich
The Original Chicken Sandwich is a chicken sandwich sold by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King. It is the "basic" chicken sandwich sold at Burger King...
, was introduced as part of a push into limited table service. Other LTO variants in its Specialty Sandwich line included an Italian sausage sandwich served in one of three ways: with onions and peppers; parmigiana
Parmigiana
Parmigiana is a Southern Italian dish made with a shallow-fried sliced filling, layered with cheese and tomato sauce, then baked. Parmigiana made with a filling of aubergine is the earliest version...
-style with mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce
Marinara Sauce
Marinara sauce is a southern Italian tomato sauce usually made with tomatoes, garlic, herbs , and onion. However, there are many variations. Some of these include the addition of capers, olives, anchovies, and/or spices....
; or with all four ingredients. Steak sandwiches were made from steak fillets or later, restructured beef. Other offerings were a ham and cheese sandwich with mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomato, and a veal
Veal
Veal is the meat of young cattle , as opposed to meat from older cattle. Though veal can be produced from a calf of either sex and any breed, most veal comes from male calves of dairy cattle breeds...
parmigiana sandwich.
Trends
The company is not above following trends within the fast food and fast casual industry; two of its more recent products are examples. The company's first wrapWrap (food)
A wrap is a sort of sandwich made of a soft flatbread rolled around a filling. The usual flatbreads are wheat-flour tortillas, lavash, or pita; the filling usually consists of cold sliced meat, poultry, or fish accompanied by shredded lettuce, diced tomato or pico de gallo, guacamole, sauteed...
product, called a BK Wrapper, was introduced in North America as a breakfast option in April 2008, with a lunch/dinner version offered in September 2008. These products were in response to industry trends towards products that are easier to consume on the go, and to trends that began in 2007 regarding smaller foods. Originally a limited time offer, the lunch/dinner version of this product was sold as a regional item through late 2009, when they were eliminated due to weakening sales. The 2009 introduction of BK Burger Shots
BK Burger Shots
BK Burger Shots were Burger King's version of mini-burgers, or sliders in restaurant parlance. The product has since been discontinued.- Product description :...
, Burger King's version of sliders
Slider (sandwich)
A slider is a small sandwich, typically around across, served in a bun. The term primarily refers to small hamburgers, but can also cover any small sandwich served on a slider roll...
, was part of a wider trend in the restaurant industry for this type of sandwich. European locations sell them as the BK Six Pack. The variation sold in the UK and Ireland is called the Angus 6 Pack; it is six small burgers that are attached together. In the United States they are based on the Burger Bundles/Burger Buddies products of the 1980s, which were originally inspired by the similar products sold at White Castle
White Castle (restaurant)
White Castle is an American regional fast food hamburger restaurant chain in the Midwestern United States and in the New York metropolitan area, and the first of its kind in the US. It is known for its small, square hamburgers. Sometimes referred to as "sliders", the burgers were priced at five...
and Krystal
Krystal (restaurant)
Krystal is an American fast food restaurant chain known for their small, square hamburger sliders with steamed-in onions and 24/7 business hours. Krystal is often described as the Southern equivalent of the Midwest American hamburger chain White Castle...
,
Licensed products
In 2007, Burger King began licensing its logo and items to outside companies for non-Burger King products. A licensed products company, Broad Street Licensing Group, and its manufacturing partner, the Inventure Group, introduced the first products in the fall of that year: flavored potato crisps in two flavors, flame-broiled burger and french fries with ketchup. Inventure added a third flavor, onion rings, in 2008. A second licensed product, the company's child-oriented BK Fresh Apple Fries, was licensed for sale in supermarkets in 2009 to the Cruch Pak company. The company stated that while the products are important in providing brand identity, they will not be concentrating their resources on them, and will be investing the licensing fees into the company's marketing fund. Industry pundits have criticized the company for this scheme, with Rob Frankel, author of the book The Revenge of Brand X, stating "just because you can do something does not mean you should."The licensing deals have proven successful. Broad Street has expanded the product line to seventeen countries across the globe while increasing selection to more than a half dozen products designed to mimic the flavors of some of Burger King's core menu products. The success of the product line and licensing deals garnered the companies an award for "Brand Extension of the Year" from License! Global magazine, and earned them a nomination for "Best Corporate License of the Year" from the Licensing Industry Merchandisers Association.
ConAgra Foods
ConAgra Foods
ConAgra Foods, Inc. is an American packaged foods company. ConAgra's products are available in supermarkets, as well as restaurants and food service establishments. Its headquarters are located in Omaha, Nebraska...
entered into a licensing agreement with Burger King in 2009 for a new line of microwavable french fry products. The new products are King Krinkz, which are seasoned crinkle-cut fries; King Kolossalz, an extra-large package of fries; and King Wedgez, seasoned potato wedges. The products were slated to be released in September 2009. The packaging is designed to resemble BK's FryPod fry container.
Failed products
Burger King has introduced several new products that performed well in testing, but did not catch on with the public. The failure of the BK Baguette line of sandwiches is an example a product that did not meet corporate expectations; another earlier failure was the Bull's-eye Barbecue Burger. The sandwich consisted of two side-by-side hamburger patties, American cheese, and bacon, with Bull's-eye BarbecueBullsEye Barbecue Sauce
Bull's-Eye Barbecue Sauce is a popular barbecue sauce made by Kraft Foods. RIDG's Finer Foods is the company name owned by Kraft which it chooses to identify as the distributor of the product. In Canada, it is also the official BBQ sauce of the Calgary Stampede.-History:Bulls-Eye was introduced in...
brand barbecue sauce
Barbecue sauce
Barbecue sauce is a flavoring sauce or condiment ranging from watery to very thick consistency. As the name implies, it was created as an accompaniment to barbecued foods. While it can be applied to any food, it usually tops meat after cooking or during barbecuing, grilling, or baking...
. The sandwich was served on the same 7 in (17.8 cm) roll as the Specialty Sandwiches. Later it was sold as a traditional-style double cheeseburger.
In 1993, during its time under the ownership of Britain-based Grand Metropolitan, Burger King experimented with table service. After 4 pm, customers would place their order at the counter, and their order would be brought to them at their table. Customers were given complimentary popcorn to eat while waiting for their meal. To coincide with the offering, a series of meals called the Dinner baskets were introduced. The dinner baskets included the Whopper Dinner Basket, Steak Sandwich Dinner Basket, Fried Chicken Dinner Basket, and Shrimp Dinner Basket. In the New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
region of the United States, BK sold a Fried clam Basket. The dinner came with two sides, including a choice of a side salad, cole slaw
Cole Slaw
Cole Slaw is an album by jazz saxophonist Lou Donaldson recorded for the Argo label in 1964 and performed by Donaldson with Herman Foster, Earl May, Bruno Carr, and Ray Barretto.The album was awarded 3 stars in an Allmusic review....
, french fries, or baked potato. Lasting approximately a year, the sit-down restaurant concept was abandoned in 1994 in favor of the original quick-service formula.
Another failed product, this time under Grand Metropolitan's successor Diageo, was the BK Back Porch Grillers line of burgers that featured a spiced and flavored patty served on a bakery-style roll. There were two varieties: The Regular served with mayonnaise, whole leaf iceberg lettuce, tomato and grilled onions, and the Bacon Cheddar, with bacon and smoked cheddar cheese. There was one LTO variety, the Black Stack Griller, made with Black Strap Barbecue sauce (a strong molasses
Molasses
Molasses is a viscous by-product of the processing of sugar cane, grapes or sugar beets into sugar. The word molasses comes from the Portuguese word melaço, which ultimately comes from mel, the Latin word for "honey". The quality of molasses depends on the maturity of the sugar cane or sugar beet,...
-flavored sauce), bacon, lettuce, and tomato. The Griller patty was flavored so that it had a taste similar to a hamburger that had been grilled over a charcoal-fired grill.
One of its international failures was the BK Crown Jewels line
BK Crown Jewels line
BK Crown Jewels line was a line of chicken sandwiches and hamburgers sold by the international fast-food restaurant chain Burger King in the New Zealand Market...
of sandwiches, originally sold in New Zealand. These larger, adult-oriented sandwiches were made with fried and grilled chicken or a Whopper patty and a variety of toppings and served on a Kaiser roll. Toppings included a mango
Mango
The mango is a fleshy stone fruit belonging to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is native to India from where it spread all over the world. It is also the most cultivated fruit of the tropical world. While...
lime
Lime (fruit)
Lime is a term referring to a number of different citrus fruits, both species and hybrids, which are typically round, green to yellow in color, 3–6 cm in diameter, and containing sour and acidic pulp. Limes are a good source of vitamin C. Limes are often used to accent the flavors of foods and...
sauce, avocado
Avocado
The avocado is a tree native to Central Mexico, classified in the flowering plant family Lauraceae along with cinnamon, camphor and bay laurel...
, aioli
Aioli
Aioli ) is a traditional sauce made of garlic, olive oil, and egg. There are many variations, such as the addition of mustard or, in Catalonia, pears. It is usually served at room temperature. The name aioli comes from Provençal alh 'garlic' is a traditional sauce made of garlic, olive oil,...
, a Cajun
Cajun cuisine
Cajun cuisine is the style of cooking named for the French-speaking Acadian or "Cajun" immigrants deported by the British from Acadia in Canada to the Acadiana region of Louisiana, USA. It is what could be called a rustic cuisine — locally available ingredients predominate, and preparation...
spiced sauce, and relish
Relish
A relish is a cooked, pickled, or chopped vegetable or fruit food item which is typically used as a condiment.In North America, relish commonly alludes to sweet pickle relish-like sauce that often condiments hot dogs, hamburgers and other types of fast food.-Description and ingredients:The item...
. Originally successful, the sandwiches piqued the interest of Burger King's corporate offices and were being considered for a potential global rollout. However, interest in the product faded and they were discontinued.
Introduced as a direct challenge of corporate rival McDonald's, the BK Big King was Burger King's response to the Big Mac
Big Mac
The Big Mac is a hamburger sold by McDonald's, an international fast food restaurant chain. It is one of the company's signature products...
and had a similar style and taste. The sandwich was originally introduced in 1995 under the name Double Supreme during its testing stage. The name was switched to Big King when it was introduced nationally in 1997, and again to the King Supreme when reintroduced in 2002. The sandwich was discontinued in the North American market but is still sold in many of the company's international markets in several forms.
Purchasing guidelines for meat
Like many of its competitors, BK has been targeted by various animal welfare groups, such as PETAPeta
Peta can refer to:* peta-, an SI prefix denoting a factor of 1015* Peta, Greece, a town in Greece* Peta, the Pāli word for a Preta, or hungry ghost in Buddhism* Peta Wilson, an Australian actress and model* Peta Todd, English glamour model...
, over the treatment of the animals it uses in the manufacture of its ingredients. In a concession to these groups, BK agreed to adopt a series of policies for its suppliers for several of its raw animal products. The company has established a preference for purchasing eggs and pork-based products from those suppliers that use cage-free production methods.
2001 Guidelines
As part of its 2001 guidelines, Burger King stated that it would begin conducting announced and unannounced inspections of the slaughterhouseSlaughterhouse
A slaughterhouse or abattoir is a facility where animals are killed for consumption as food products.Approximately 45-50% of the animal can be turned into edible products...
s for all of its meat suppliers and take action against facilities that fail those inspections. It would establish animal-handling verification guidelines for all the slaughterhouses of its suppliers. The company would require its suppliers to confine no more than five hens in each battery cage
Battery cage
In poultry farming, battery cages are an industrial agricultural confinement system used primarily for egg-laying hens...
, that the birds be able to stand fully upright, and require the presence of two water drinkers per cage. It would stop purchasing from suppliers who engage in the forced molting
Forced molting
Induced molting is the practice by the commercial egg industry of artificially provoking a complete flock of hens to molt simultaneously. During the molting period, the hens go out of production for a period of at least two weeks. This has the effect of allowing the hen's reproductive tracts to...
of hens, develop auditing procedures for the handling of "broiler" chickens, and institute humane handling procedures for chickens at slaughterhouses. It would begin purchasing pork from farms that do not confine sows to stalls.
Per the conditions of its agreement with the groups, the company filed a petition in 2002 with the Food and Drug Administration
Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
requesting the United States Department of Agriculture
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
(USDA) step up enforcement of the Humane Slaughter Act
Humane Slaughter Act
The Humane Slaughter Act, or the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act, is a United States federal law designed to protect livestock during slaughter. It was passed in 1958...
of 1958. The USDA agreed with the request, stating "it is granting your petition and is developing a proposed rule that addresses the issue of humane handling." The USDA failed to indicate when it intended to publish the proposal in the Federal Register and solicit public comment, which would be the first step before the agency drafts a final rule.
2008 Guidelines
The company amended its purchasing guidelines in 2008. It announced that it would expand its pork purchasing guidelines by requiring 10% of its pork products be purchased from suppliers who do not use gestation crateGestation crate
A gestation crate, also known as a sow stall, is a 7 ft by 2 ft metal enclosure used in intensive pig farming, in which a female breeding pig may be confined during pregnancy, and in effect for most of her adult life....
s, metal enclosures that confine sows and restrict the animal's movement, and double that amount by the end of the year. It would also immediately begin purchasing 2% of its eggs from producers whose hens who are not confined to small wire battery cages, and double that amount by the end of that year. It agreed with PeTA that the company would issue a statement that it would be give purchasing preference to egg suppliers that do not use battery cages and to those poultry suppliers that utilize or upgrade to controlled atmosphere killing
Controlled Atmosphere Killing
Controlled atmosphere killing is a method for slaughtering animals such as chickens by placing the animals in a container in which the atmosphere lacks oxygen and consists of one or more of argon, nitrogen or carbon dioxide, causing the animals to lose consciousness...
, which is considered to be a more humane method of chicken and turkey slaughter.
Food
Condiments
The H.J. Heinz Company is a significant supplier of condiments to Burger King. The companies have worked together on several programs, such as the 2001 promotional tie-in with the movie ShrekShrek
Shrek is a 2001 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, featuring the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow. Loosely based on William Steig's 1990 fairy tale picture book Shrek!...
. Heinz provided an LTO Blastin' Green EZ Squirt colored ketchup and an apple flavored "ooze" dipping sauce for distribution with the Shrek-branded kid's meals. Heinz has become a primary supplier of ketchup in the United States, Mexico, and Great Britain, while supplying various sauces in several European countries.
Kraft foods
Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods Inc. is an American confectionery, food and beverage conglomerate. It markets many brands in more than 170 countries. 12 of its brands annually earn more than $1 billion worldwide: Cadbury, Jacobs, Kraft, LU, Maxwell House, Milka, Nabisco, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Trident, Tang...
has supplied many of its products to BK over the years. Several of its condiment lines have found their way into BK menu items. Two Kraft products were involved in direct tie-ins: the Bull's-Eye BBQ Burger in 2005 and the A-1 Steakhouse XT sandwich in 2010. In both cases, Burger King prominently used the names of the Kraft products, A1 Steak Sauce
A1 Steak Sauce
A1 is a steak sauce and condiment for use with meat or game dishes. It was developed in the United Kingdom as a brand in the year 1831 and was later introduced to the United States by G.F...
and Bull's-Eye Barbecue Sauce, in the names of the sandwiches. Kraft has supplied several of Burger King's children's products, including a Jell-O
Jell-O
Jell-O is a brand name belonging to U.S.-based Kraft Foods for a number of gelatin desserts, including fruit gels, puddings and no-bake cream pies. The brand's popularity has led to it being used as a generic term for gelatin dessert across the U.S. and Canada....
brand dessert during BK's Teletubbies
Teletubbies
Teletubbies is a BBC children's television series targeted at pre-school viewers and produced from 1997 to 2001 by Ragdoll Productions. It was created by Ragdoll's creative director Anne Wood CBE and Andrew Davenport, who wrote each of the show's 365 episodes. The programme's original narrator was...
promotion in 1999, and the Kraft macaroni and cheese used in its lower-fat kid's meals introduced in 2009.
Proteins
During the late 1960s, Tyson FoodsTyson Foods
Tyson Foods, Inc. is a multinational corporation based in Springdale, Arkansas, that operates in the food industry. The company is the world's second largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork only behind Brazilian JBS S.A., and annually exports the largest percentage of beef out of...
was devising new methods to broaden their market, including introducing smaller consumer packaging and landing military contracts. The company expanded its commercial division by offering new products to McDonald's and Burger King. Tyson's McDonald's product eventually evolved into Chicken McNuggets
Chicken McNuggets
Chicken McNuggets are a product offered by international fast-food restaurant chain McDonald's and are one of the most popular trademarked items on the McDonald's menu....
while Burger King's product became the basis of its chicken sandwiches. For their 2010 rib promotion, Tyson was Burger King's pork supplier. Despite a production-significant lead time, the estimated four month product supply lasted Burger king less than three months.
A 1996 E. Coli outbreak at one of Burger King's largest beef providers, Hudson Foods, gave Tyson Foods one of its largest business coups. Hudson was one of the largest poultry providers in the United States and one of Tyson's largest competitors when they moved into beef processing at the behest of Burger King. Once it had secured a contract with Burger King, Hudson opened a beef processing plant in Nebraska. When the plant was identified as the source of an E. Coli breakout in 1996, Burger King abandoned the company as a supplier.
Lopez Foods, Inc. of Oklahoma City
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
is a supplier of beef to the Burger King. While Lopez's primary customer is McDonald's, the company supplies BK as well.
Sides and desserts
McCain Foods became a supplier of potato products to the company in 1998, shortly after an agreement with farmers in Maine to supply potatoes for use in the fast food market.Edwards Baking
Edwards Baking
Edwards Baking is an American commercial manufacturer of frozen desserts. The company came into existence in 1995 when a group of investors purchased Atlanta-based frozen pie manufacturer Edwards Baking Co. and Chicago-based Tripp Bakers and merged the two to form a new national company.- Products...
provides Burger King with prepackaged pies and pie-style desserts while providing oversight and assistance with the chain's dessert products. BK is one of Edwards' major national contracts, where the company provides Burger King with assistance in marketing programs, point-of-purchase advertising materials, market research, and other resources. Edwards has a full-time staff assigned to Burger King's headquarters in Miami. Before Edwards became Burger King's primary baked goods supplier, the chain had a contract with Awrey Bakeries of Livonia, Michigan
Livonia, Michigan
Livonia is a city in the northwest part of Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Livonia is a very large suburb with an array of traditional neighborhoods connected to the metropolitan area by freeways. The population was 96,942 at the 2010 census, making it Michigan's 9th largest...
, for its line of pre-packaged breakfast products. Burger King sold a line of Awrey products including danish, doughnuts, and birthday cakes.
Soft drinks
Traditionally Burger King has sold soft drinks from the Coca-Cola Company in its home market. In 1983, PepsiCoPepsiCo
PepsiCo Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York, United States, with interests in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of grain-based snack foods, beverages, and other products. PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company...
garnered the $444 million beverage supplier contract from its rival, and, in the midst of extreme market debate over the future of the contract, had it renewed for a second term in 1987. The company won the contract by strengthening the marketing and advertising program ties between Burger King and itself. The contract lasted three more years when, partially based upon Pepsi's growth as a restaurant operator with its Tricon Restaurants
Yum! Brands
Yum! Brands, Inc. or Yum! is a United States-based Fortune 500 corporation. Yum! operates or licenses Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, and WingStreet restaurants worldwide....
division, Burger King moved its beverage contract back to Coca-Cola.
Since 1990, Burger King has continued using Coca-Cola as its beverage supplier, renewing its contract in several times. The Coca-Cola contract is not without its problems; the 1999 contract called for the Coca-Cola branded Icee products to be made a permanent menu item in all American locations. After the rollout, it was discovered that Coca-Cola employees had faked product test information to bolster prospective sales numbers in an effort to entice franchisees to enroll in a summertime advertising push. Several Coke employees were terminated, and Coca-Cola changed the in-store promotional materials to emphasize the Icee name. The 2003 contract officially extended the relationship between the two companies so that Coca-Cola was the exclusive supplier of soft drinks for the company. Before this, individual international franchises would negotiate their own contracts with their company of choice. The 2003 contract gave Coca-Cola new access to the 3,000 operating or planned restaurants on the Asia-Pacific rim, in Europe, and in South and Central America.
In 1999, Burger King added a second soft drink supplier contract with the Dr Pepper Snapple Group
Dr Pepper Snapple Group
Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. is an American soft drink company, based in Plano, Texas.It was spun off from Britain's Cadbury Schweppes, on May 5, 2008, with trading in its shares starting on May 7, 2008...
to include Dr Pepper
Dr Pepper
Dr Pepper is a soft drink, marketed as having a unique flavor. The drink was created in the 1880s by Charles Alderton of Waco, Texas and first served around 1885. Dr Pepper was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904 and is now also sold in Europe, Asia, Canada, Mexico, Australia ...
to its beverage line up in North American restaurants.
Burger King's supply contracts for non-carbonated beverages are separate from the ones for its sodas. When the company first chose to introduce a bottled water product, it chose Nestlé
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
's Poland Spring
Poland Spring
Poland Spring is a brand of bottled water manufactured by a subsidiary of Nestlé and sold in the United States. It was founded in 1845 by Hiram Ricker. Despite the name, the water does not come from the country of Poland...
brand over Coke's Dasani
Dasani
Dasani is a brand of bottled water from the Coca-Cola company, launched in 1999, after the success of Aquafina . It is one of many brands of Coca-Cola bottled water sold around the world....
. When the contract expired in 2003, BK moved to Pepsi's Aquafina
Aquafina
Aquafina is a brand of bottled water products produced by PepsiCo, Inc., consisting of both unflavored and flavored water. The Aquafina brand name is also licensed for use on multiple skin care products, including lip balm and wrinkle cream...
, the top-selling brand at the time. In 2008 Burger King renewed its relationship with Nestlé by entering into an agreement to sell Pure Life bottled water products. BK moved away from Pepsi's Tropicana
Tropicana Products
Tropicana Products is an American based company, and was founded in 1947 by Anthony T. Rossi in Bradenton, Florida, U.S.A. Since 1998, it has been owned by PepsiCo, Inc. Tropicana's headquarters are in Chicago, Illinois.-Anthony T. Rossi:...
brand juices in 2001 when it went with Coca-Cola's Minute Maid
Minute Maid
Minute Maid is a product line of beverages, usually associated with lemonade or orange juice, but now extends to soft drinks of many kinds, including Hi-C...
brands for the North America market. With the introduction of its Positive Steps nutrition program for children, the company turned to the Hershey Company
The Hershey Company
The Hershey Company, known until April 2005 as the Hershey Foods Corporation and commonly called Hershey's, is the largest chocolate manufacturer in North America. Its headquarters are in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which is also home to Hershey's Chocolate World. It was founded by Milton S...
to provide Hershey's branded low-fat milk in its North American stores. BK is utilizing a popular brand name to promote its products in a move to draw customers' attention to itself and its meal programs.
Coffee
Douwe Egberts
Douwe Egberts is a Dutch corporation that processes and trades coffee, tea, and other groceries. Its full name is Douwe Egberts Koninklijke Tabaksfabriek-Koffiebranderijen-Theehandel NV, which translates as "Douwe Egberts Royal Tobacco Factory - Coffee Roasters - Tea Traders, Plc."...
brand, BK Joe was Burger King's coffee line that was first introduced in 2001 in North America and later in parts of Europe. Advertised as being made from Arabica coffee, the product was made using Douwe's Cafitesse system, a platform that eschews coffee brewed from ground beans in favor of a beverage made from a coffee concentrate with hot water added. Sara Lee claims the advantage of the system is that each cup of coffee is made at the time of order with minimal waste and labor. The product was not designed to compete with products from companies such as Starbucks, but was intended to appeal to customers who seek a consistent cup of coffee.
Despite the investment in the Douwe Egbert product, Burger King announced it would be phasing out the Cafitesse system in the United States in the summer of 2010 in favor of Starbucks' Seattle's Best brand of coffee. Throughout the summer of 2010, BK added several new coffee-based products to the new coffee line in an initial effort to bring in more customers during the morning sales period. The new coffee products, including flavored coffees and iced coffee drinks, are available all day to compete with McDonald's McCafé
McCafé
McCafé is a coffee-house-style food and drink chain, owned by McDonald's. Created and launched in Melbourne, Australia in 1993 by McDonald's Licensee Ann Brown, the chain reflects a consumer trend towards espresso coffees....
coffee line. Every Friday during November 2010, Burger King gave away free 12 USoz cups of Seattle's Best Coffee to encourage people to try its breakfast and coffee lines. The company predicted the number of free cups of coffee would number between two and four million.
Alcoholic drinks
For many years Burger King has sold beer in several of its international locations, such as Germany, but not in its home territory. The company has begun to sell beer at its BK Whopper BarBK Whopper Bar
The BK Whopper Bar is limited service concept created by fast-food restaurant Burger King in 2009.- Format :The Whopper Bar is a concept from the company that upends its traditional fast food operations with a newer high end concept designed to compete with fast casual and casual dining restaurants...
limited service concept restaurants in Miami, New York, and Los Angeles in 2010. The company will be selling products from SABMiller
SABMiller
SABMiller plc is a global brewing and bottling company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's second-largest brewing company measured by revenues and is also a major bottler of Coca-Cola. Its brands include Grolsch, Miller Genuine Draft, Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Pilsner Urquell...
and Anheuser-Busch
Anheuser-Busch
Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. , is an American brewing company. The company operates 12 breweries in the United States and 18 in other countries. It was, until December 2009, also one of America's largest theme park operators; operating ten theme parks across the United States through the...
, including Budweiser
Budweiser
Budweiser is a German adjective describing something or someone from the city of České Budějovice in Southern Bohemia, Czech Republic.Beer brewing in České Budějovice dates back to the 13th century...
, Bud Lite, and Miller Lite
Miller Lite
Miller Lite is a 4.2% abv pale lager brand sold by MillerCoors of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Sibling beers include Miller Genuine Draft and Miller High Life.-History:...
in aluminum bottles designed to maintain temperature. The move, designed to target the important 30-and-under demographic, has been called risky by industry analysts because the company is known as a fast food purveyor and not as an alcoholic beverages seller. Other industry consultants have disagreed with the assessment, believing that the move is timely because the company is growing with its aging customer base.
Distributors
For many years Burger King owned and operated its own distribution system, known originally as Distron. Distron, founded shortly after establishment of Burger King, primarily served the company-owned stores and 50–60 percent of franchised stores. Franchise groups were free to purchase supplies from one of seventeen independent distribution systems, often operated by larger franchise groups such as Carrols Restaurant Group. The Distron setup remained relatively stable until BK was purchased from Pillsbury by Grand Metropolitan. Grand Met was not happy with the distribution group. They originally planned to sell it before the purchase, but ended up reorganizing the division into two separate groups for procurement (Burger King Purchasing [BKP]) and distribution (Burger King Distribution Services [BKDS]). The move resulted in the layoff of over a hundred staff members.In 1992, Burger King and its franchises formed Restaurant Services Inc. (RSI), an independent purchasing cooperative
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
, which covered 100 percent of BK stores in the United States. The creation of RSI was based on a proposal by then-CEO Barry Gibbons create an organization that would be autonomous from BK corporate operations, provide full financial disclosure to participants on pricing issues and revenues, and enjoy the participation of the entire chain to maximize the benefits of volume purchasing. The format of RSI was based on the system employed by KFC
KFC
KFC, founded and also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, is a chain of fast food restaurants based in Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States. KFC has been a brand and operating segment, termed a concept of Yum! Brands since 1997 when that company was spun off from PepsiCo as Tricon Global...
for its distribution system and was operated in a similar manner. Two weeks after the formation of the co-operative, Grand Met sold the physical assets of BKDS to Canadian-based buyout firm Onex Corporation and folded BKP into RSI.
Currently the company utilizes independent distributors such as Maines Paper and Food Service and Sysco
SYSCO
Sysco Corporation is the global leader in marketing and distributing food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, hotels and inns, and other foodservice and hospitality businesses...
for supplying North American stores with food and paper products.
See also
- Burger King advertisingBurger King advertisingInternational fast food chain Burger King has employed varied advertising programs, both successful and unsuccessful, since its foundation in 1954. During the 1970s, output included a memorable jingle, the inspiration for its current mascot the Burger King and several well-known and parodied...
- McDonald's products
- In-N-Out Burger products