QSR May 2023

BURGER KING’S COMEBACK

BURGER KING CAPTIVATED AUDIENCES WITH ITS NEW JINGLE AND TAGLINE, ‘YOU RULE.’

King as well, in part because of the turnaround he led at Dom ino’s. When he was promoted to CEO of the company after serving as head of international operations and U.S. president for several years, Doyle immediately pivoted to making its pizza taste better, going so far as to apologize personally for Domi no’s food quality in a TV commercial. Just as important, Doyle prioritized the crucial matter of Domino’s franchisees confidence and health as the industry and the economy climbed out of the Great Recession, and he created a new growth arc for the brand on digital ordering and fulfillment technology that a decade ago was just starting to overtake the sector. THE TURNAROUND TRACK After years of helping run Burger King and launching the “Reclaim the Flame” program last year with another ex-Dom ino’s executive, Tom Curtis, now president of the U.S. and Canada for Burger King, what Kobza sees today is commitment to “a very substantial investment” by RBI. “It’s a big and com prehensive plan to address all the areas that need focus over a

multiyear period and brings the franchisees along. We’ll put in a lot of money up front, but it requires franchisees to have the confidence to invest as well. There’s a strong element of part nership and a long-term perspective.” Adds Doyle, “We’re putting additional dollars in, and assum ing we get franchisees to certain levels of profitability, they’ll pick it up and invest more into the brand in 2025 and 2026.” To be sure, some Burger King franchisees face significant difficulties both in awaiting major improvements from the franchisor and coping with their own challenges, including ris ing wages and other costs, and the paucity of labor. Meridian Restaurants Unlimited, for instance, a 120-unit Burger King franchisee operating across the Plains and western mountain states, declared bankruptcy in March citing those and other issues. And a couple of weeks after that, EYM King of Michigan, which operates in southern Michigan, moved to close 26 loca tions and lay off 424 employees after failing to reach a deal with RBI over undisclosed issues. Kobza concedes franchisees “needed a comprehensive plan for meaningful investment from us to get momentum in the busi

BURGER KING’

64

MAY 2023 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com