"We were getting behind with the wraps and salads that were coming on the market," said McDonald, who owns 19 franchises. "We had salads, but they weren't as good as the competition. We focused on burgers maybe longer than we should have."
McDonald said he expressed his concerns at the company's failure to keep up with the times. But the Miami-based chain had gone through a series of owners over the years, and McDonald said he got little response from corporate about addressing the problems.
He said the attitude from the top changed, however, after New York-based private equity firm 3G Capital bought Burger King last year. That's when Burger King assembled a group of 15 key executives, franchisees and suppliers to evaluate the chain's menu, item by item.
The process, which took three months of daylong meetings, was grueling at times. French fries took multiple days, given the various factors like seasoning, oil and frying method. Even the day for soft-serve ice cream, which was rolled out last summer, wasn't as fun as it might sound: A supplier that had 400 vanilla flavors presented the nuances between Madagascar and honey vanilla.
"Trying to come up with the exact intensity of vanilla you need is a little bit daunting," said Koch, Burger King's chef.
Burger King quietly put some changes in place over the past year. The French fries are thicker so they'll stay hot longer. Burgers now come with one slice of cheese instead of two, so it melts more evenly. And naturally-smoked bacon is now cooked at each restaurant. Previously, Burger King had used a pre-cooked variety with a smoked flavor sprayed on.
THE ROLLOUT
Once executives settled on menu items, it was time to go to the masses. Would the new items measure up to those of Burger King's competitors? To find out, the company conducted consumer tests and revised its recipes over months.
Burger King considered making Panini-pressed snack wraps, for example, but tests showed customers wanted something lighter. The wraps it settled on closely resemble the ones offered at McDonald's — a chicken strip sprinkled with cheese, lettuce and dressing wrapped in a flour tortilla. McDonald's even offers the same flavors — honey mustard and ranch.
Even seemingly straightforward items had to be reworked over and over. The new "Homestyle Chicken Strips" went through 11 variations before the final version was selected. And it took about seven months and six tries before the company found the right mix of creaminess, iciness and tanginess for its strawberry banana and tropical mango smoothies.
"They didn't rush these products out to market," said McDonald, the Burger King franchisee who regularly eats at competitors to stay on top of what they're doing. He said he's confident the new menu items stack up to rivals. "They got feedback from consumers and reformulated them to get it right."
But food isn't Burger King's only problem. Many of its restaurants are showing signs of aging. So the company decided it wanted to give them a more modern look that mixes leather armchairs, high stools and plastic chairs in warmer lighting. High partitions will create more privacy in some seating areas. The makeover costs an average of more than $275,000 per restaurant.
That presents another challenge: getting buy-in from franchisees, who own 90 percent of the chain's U.S. stores. So the company is offering those who sign up for the remodeling incentives, such as a 50 percent discount on the annual $50,000 franchise fee.
So far, more than 1,000 franchise locations are slated to be updated in the next year. Over the next three years, 2,500 will be remodeled.
Customers will see changes even in stores that aren't remodeled. The drab red, black or blue shirts workers used to wear have been replaced by metal gray shirts and aprons that were designed with the help of employees. Wrappers, cups and bags now have vivid photos of food that were shot by the same photographer responsible for the catalogs of the high-end housewares retailer Williams-Sonoma.
Reader Comments Read all comments (5)
Oblio_A of IN 9:35AM April 02, 2012
Oblio_A of IN 9:33AM April 02, 2012
Oblio_A of IN 9:32AM April 02, 2012