Mission critical for jump-starting Burger King’s sales in 2022 will be executing on a new plan internally known as “reclaiming the flame” — or bringing back the Whopper brand to its former glory days.
Rallying the troops by paying homage to BK’s flame-grilled roots, the plan focuses on better marketing of the Whopper sandwich, fewer coupons for it and making it easier for workers to build the sandwich as to get diners in and out of the drive-thru faster.
“We felt it was important to invest behind it and elevate the flagship and iconic product, and make sure that it becomes the centerpiece of our game plan going forward,” said Restaurant Brands CEO José Cil on Yahoo Finance Live.
Restaurant Brands owns Burger King, Tim Horton’s, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs.
“The Whopper is a multi-billion dollar brand and we need to treat it as such. You should expect to see new extensions and innovations around the Whopper, some of which are already proven winners in our international markets. We expect they will test and perform well here in the U.S. as well,” Cil told analysts on an earnings call earlier this week.
If BK could pull off a Whopper revival, it would go a long way to improving the chain’s sales trends which have been mixed at best.
Burger King’s U.S. same-store sales rose 1.8% in the fourth quarter, trailing a 7.5% gain at arch rival and Big Mac seller McDonald’s. For the year, BK U.S. same-store sales rose 4.7%.
Same-store sales have fared better for Burger King overseas, with a 13.6% increase for 2021.
Luckily for Restaurant Brands it has a few other brands clicking on all cylinders.
Global fourth quarter same-store sales for the Firehouse Subs brand surged 14.7% from a year ago in the fourth quarter. Global same-store sales surged 20.9% in 2021.
The company acquired the brand in November 2021.
Meanwhile, same-store sales at Tim Horton’s globally rose 10.3% in the fourth quarter.
The company’s fourth quarter earnings beat analyst profit forecasts by four cents. Sales of $1.55 billion narrowly surpasses estimates.
Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.
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