Burger Company to Start Grillin’ in the US

This year, New Zealand fast-food chain BurgerFuel is undertaking an ambitious expansion plan in the crowded American market through a partnership with Subway restaurants, an industry giant, the New York Times reports.

Inside the Grey Lynn headquarters of BurgerFuel Worldwide is a spray-painted mural of a skull wearing a combat helmet emblazoned with the slogan “Born to Grill.”

Executives at BurgerFuel, say the image – a takeoff on the film Full Metal Jacket – reflects the company’s attitude.

The partnership is unique, BurgerFuel’s group chief executive, Josef Roberts, said, sitting in a boardroom in the company’s office in the Auckland suburb of Grey Lynn. “I don’t know of anyone else who’s got this sort of opportunity to hitch their wagon to such a huge freight train.”

BurgerFuel hopes to use Subway’s scale in the United States by signing up some of its franchisees to open BurgerFuel stores. The company has already been taking registrations from interested Subway franchise owners.

Before eyeing the United States, BurgerFuel focused on the Middle East, and it now has many franchises in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The company signed its first Middle East licensing partner, in Dubai, in 2011.

BurgerFuel began selling burgers in 1995 with a single restaurant in the Auckland suburb of Ponsonby. Since then, it has expanded to 57 outlets in New Zealand and overseas.

Original article by Jonathan Hutchison, The New York Times, May 10, 2014.