• by Todd Wasserman , Staff Writer, September 13, 2022

After a few tough years that have caused it to lag behind competitors, Burger King is planning a two-year, $400 million effort to refurbish the brand.

According to CNN Business, $250 million of that figure will go toward updating restaurant tech, kitchens and remodeling, with the remaining $150 million spent on advertising and digital products.

The turnaround plan centers on The Whopper. Tom Curtis, president of Burger King North America, told CNN "the plan is to make sure workers are well trained in making the best possible Whopper, and that kitchens support consistency and ease of preparation.”

Currently, the brand is "evaluating whether or not there are changes to the Whopper that could make it a better product," Curtis said.

Restaurant Business International CEO Jose Cil told CNN that Burger King didn’t adapt very well to the pandemic. “We didn’t simplify,” Cil said. BK didn’t strip down its menu, instead it complicated things, Cil said, like adding menu items that weren’t intuitive and easy for the chain to serve.

In particular, the Ch’King sandwich “created a ton of bottlenecks operationally,” Cil said. BK recently replaced that sandwich with the Royal Crispy Chicken sandwich.

Other improvements are coming. The chain plans to remodel 800 restaurants to make them look more modern. BK also changed its logo last year for the first time in 20 years.

The proposed changes come after Wendy’s topped BK as the No. 2 fast-food chain (next to McDonald’s in 2012, according to Technomic. That was the first year BK wasn’t No. 2 since 1969. In QSR Magazine’s current rankings, BK is the No. 7 chain, behind Wendy’s, Chick-fil-A, Taco Bell, Subway, Starbucks and McDonald’s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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