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Tag: hamburger

  • Impossible Foods launches burger blind-tasting test challenge

    Impossible Foods launches burger blind-tasting test challenge

    Impossible Foods has launched “Bloody Delicious,” a blind-tasting test to see if local foodies can tell the burger is made with plant-based Impossible alt-beef.

    According to the brand, the challenge comes after it sees Australians are rapidly turning away from red meat, with “meat reducer” appearing as the country’s most popular diet last year and a quarter reducing consumption.

    “I’ve spent years cooking with red meat and would consider myself an expert when it comes to a good burger,” said chef and TV personality, TikTok Food Creator of the Year nominee Iain ‘Huey’ Hewitson.

    “I never would have thought that a plant-based burger would make its way onto my plate, but this Impossible Burger was bloody delicious!”

    Impossible Foods also said that 27 per cent of Aussies are sceptical of the taste of plant-based meat, with 19 per cent convinced that it “wouldn’t taste like animal meat”.

    The brand is also going to team up with Mary’s at Circular Quay to give away more than 200 free Impossible Burgers on April 3.

  • Burger King parent Restaurant Brands takes full control of China business

    Burger King parent Restaurant Brands takes full control of China business

    Restaurant Brands International said on Tuesday it has bought stakes in Burger King China from its local franchisee for about US$158 million, giving it nearly total ownership of the business.

    The fast food chain operator said it would engage its advisors to work on identifying a new local partner to invest into the business.

    The company has been working on its China strategy for its Burger King business which faced softening demand in the second biggest market, amid a pressured consumer spending and stiff competition.

    Restaurant Brands acquired the stakes in Burger King China from a holding company TFI Asia Holdings BV and a blank-check firm Pangaea Two Acquisition Holdings XXIII.

    Restaurant Brands had 1,474 Burger King restaurants in China, as of December 31, 2024.

  • Jollibee secures approval to lift foreign ownership limit

    Jollibee secures approval to lift foreign ownership limit

    F&B giant Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) has received approval from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) to remove its 40 percent foreign ownership limit.

    The decision follows the company’s amendment request to its articles of incorporation, which also includes removing its ability to own, acquire, mortgage, pledge, or encumber land.

    Article 12 of the Philippine Constitution restricts foreign ownership of land and certain businesses to 40 per cent, with the remaining 60 per cent reserved for Filipino citizens or corporations.

    Following the change, JFC is now positioned to accommodate more foreign investors.

    AP Securities research analyst Jose Cipres said the move allows the company to raise additional capital for expansion through a sale-leaseback transaction.

    “They could use the proceeds from the sale of land to expand their current store portfolio, translating to higher earnings,” explained Cipres.

    Meanwhile, Unicapital equity research analyst Jeri Alfonso said removing the foreign ownership limit is a good catalyst for JFC.

    “Given this current market condition, this will provide a big boost to the company in terms of trading volume,” Alfonso added.

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  • Singapore McDonald’s faces backlash over new extra sauce charge starting 2025

    Singapore McDonald’s faces backlash over new extra sauce charge starting 2025

    Singapore McDonald’s has faced online criticism after announcing a new charge for extra sauce tubs, set to take effect on Jan. 2, 2025.

    Customers will be charged up to 70 S$cents (US$0.52) for additional sauces beyond the standard portion for certain menu items.

    “What a horrid start to 2025,” said a commenter. “Outrageous,” said another.

    McDonald’s explained on its website that the “nominal charge” is meant to manage food waste and rising food costs

    While ketchup and garlic chilli sauce will remain free, additional charges will apply to other sauces. For example, sauces for Chicken McNuggets (barbecue, curry, honey mustard), hotcakes syrup, and whipped butter pads will cost 50 S$ cents per tub. Japanese roasted sesame dressing will be priced at 70 S$ cents per packet.

    This change follows a similar policy from 2012, when McDonald’s began charging 30 S$cents for extra sauce with nugget meals.

  • KFC Indonesia shutters 47 outlets, lays off thousands of employees

    KFC Indonesia shutters 47 outlets, lays off thousands of employees

    KFC Indonesia reported a net loss of IDR557.08 billion (over US$36 million) as of the third quarter of this year, resulting in the company’s closure of 47 outlets and sack of 2,274 employees.

    In its financial report, KFC Indonesia’s owner, Gelael and Salim Group under PT Fast Food Indonesia Tbk (FAST), disclosed that in the first nine months of this year, the company reduced its operational store count to 715 from the 2023 figure of 762. Its workforce has also significantly decreased, now standing at over 13,700 employees compared to nearly 16,000 previously.

    The most substantial factor in FAST’s revenue decline was a sharp drop in food and beverage sales, totaling 3.57 trillion IDR as of the third quarter, an annual decrease of 22.4%.

    FAST’s leaders attributed these downturns to the prolonged negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recovery has yet to help the company reach its expected sale targets, while market conditions have further deteriorated.

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  • Jollibee Foods takes full ownership of Tim Ho Wan

    Jollibee Foods takes full ownership of Tim Ho Wan

    Jollibee Foods Corporation has fully acquired Tim Ho Wan, taking over the remaining 8 percent of the Hong Kong restaurant business for SG$20.2 million (US$15.1 million).

    Since January this year, Jollibee has held a 92 percent stake at Titan Fund, the owner and manager of Tim Ho Wan.

    In a stock exchange filing, JFC said its subsidiary Jollibee Worldwide signed an agreement with Titan Fund to acquire the remaining minority stake.

    Founded in 2009, Tim Ho Wan now has 80 stores across 11 countries. It will be Jollibee’s flagship brand for its Chinese cuisine segment.

    Aside from its dimsum, Tim Ho Wan is also known for barbecue pork buns, steamed rice roll stuffed with barbecue pork, pan fried turnip cake, and steamed egg cake.

  • Bega Cheese reveals new look for Dairylea

    Bega Cheese reveals new look for Dairylea

    Bega Group has introduced a new appearance to its Dairylea-branded products, including the original slices and burger slices.

    Following the change, all Dairylea-branded product lines will have Bega-branded packaging.

    “Our same great tasting slices continue to be an everyday essential item, just with a new look,” said Anna Martin, brand manager of culinary at Bega Group.

    “Suitable and affordable for Australian families, we are excited to see our new packaging on supermarket shelves, helping shoppers to stretch their household budget a little further without compromising on taste and quality.”

    The refreshed packaging is now available in local supermarkets and will be accessible in Coles later this month.

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  • Japanese burger chain Niku Niku Oh! Kome debuts in Hong Kong

    Japanese burger chain Niku Niku Oh! Kome debuts in Hong Kong

    Japanese-style burger chain Niku Niku Oh! Kome – owned by Japanese restaurant chain operator Monogatari Corporation – has launched its first outlet in Hong Kong as part of its broader expansion across Asia.

    Located in Sha Tin, the restaurant has 40 bar seats surrounding an open kitchen. It specialises in freshly handmade wagyu burgers seated on hot plates or served on rice with egg yolk for a “classic Japanese experience”.

    The wagyu hamburgers are crafted from a blend of Kyushu black wagyu beef and US beef, while the rice served is Niji No Kirameki, sourced from Japan’s Tohoku region.

    Makoto Hori, senior executive officer, Monotogari Corporation, said that Hong Kong, being an international city close to the mainland, offers the company an opportunity to raise brand awareness in the Asian region.

    “We have already opened 16 restaurants in Mainland China since November 2022, and local customers have well received our food,” he added.

    Established in 1949, Monogatari Corporation has more than 700 restaurants in Japan and overseas, with 15 restaurant brands serving various Japanese foods, including yakiniku, ramen, okonomiyaki, sushi and shabu-shabu.

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  • McDonald’s to shut down 10-year-old HCMC store

    McDonald’s to shut down 10-year-old HCMC store

    American fast food chain McDonald’s is set to close one of its oldest stores in Ho Chi Minh City.

    The Ben Thanh location in District 1, which opened in 2014, would stop operations at 2 a.m. Thursday, the chain said in a Facebook post without revealing the reason for it.

    It was the chain’s second restaurant in the city.

    After its closure, McDonald’s will have 35 stores in Vietnam, including 17 in HCMC.

    Another major American F&B chain, Starbucks, shut down a store at a prime location in District 1 last month after seven years.

    Rents for high-end retail property in HCMC surged to a record US$280 per square meter on average in the first half of the year due to limited supply.

    It represented increases of 18% increase year-on-year and 60-70% from five years ago, according to property consultancy CBRE Vietnam.

  • Wendy’s Philippines sold to new owner as Dennis Uy exits food retail

    Wendy’s Philippines sold to new owner as Dennis Uy exits food retail

    Wendy’s Philippines and Conti’s Bakeshop, run by Filippino businessman Dennis Uy, have been sold to a local entrepreneur.

    Uy has decided to sell his Eight8Ate Holdings company, which operates the two chains, to Crystal Jacinto. The sale comes after the multibillion-peso food retailing business bundle has been on the market for almost two years.

    Jacinto, who runs European Wellness Villa Medica Manila – a health and wellness centre specialising in anti-aging and disease management solutions, will take full control of the company, according to the news agency’s sources. She is also reportedly backed by her husband and Malaysian businessman Jaya Sudhir.

    Wendy’s, which had 70 stores as of June, and Conti’s, which had 74 stores, were acquired by Uy in 2019, shortly before the pandemic.

    Conti’s is considered the more profitable of the two brands, which led to the bundling of Wendy’s in the deal.

    The sale also includes the remaining shares of Conti’s founding sisters – Cecille Conti Maranon, Carole Conti Sumulong, and Angela Conti Martinez – who have agreed to sell their residual stake directly to Jacinto, cites the news agency.

    Neither Uy nor Jacinto has yet to comment on the transaction at the time of writing.

    Apart from Eight8Ate Holdings, Uy is also the founder of Udenna, a conglomerate involved in petroleum, oil and gas, shipping, logistics, real estate, education, and gaming.

  • McDonald’s Japan names Thomas Ko as next president

    McDonald’s Japan names Thomas Ko as next president

    McDonald’s Japan has selected Thomas Ko as its next president, following the departure of former chairperson Sarah Casanova.

    Ko has previously held leadership positions in the company. He joined McDonald’s in 2010 as director of consumer strategy for the Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Africa regions. He then worked in senior positions at McDonald’s in South Korea and Portugal.

    The new president will succeed Tamotsu Hiiro, who will become chairman of McDonald’s Japan.

    Last month, former president Sarah Casanova resigned as chairperson of both the holding firm and the operating subsidiary, as she wanted to spend more time with her family.

  • Jollibee Singapore opens first drive-thru store

    Jollibee Singapore opens first drive-thru store

    Jollibee Singapore has opened its 20th location in Singapore – and its first in the city to feature a drive-thru service – at Caltex Jurong Spring station.

    “This milestone coincides with our 10th anniversary in Singapore, during which time we have expanded from a single outlet in Lucky Plaza to 20 stores across the country, growing our consumer base from serving primarily Filipinos, to now serving the mainstream Singaporean market who comprise the predominant majority of our customers today,” said Dennis Flores, president of Jollibee Europe, Middle East, Asia and Australia.

    The launch of Singapore’s first drive-thru restaurant follows the recent opening of a Jollibee store in neighbouring Malaysia, its 10th in the country, located at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

    Jollibee launched 38 locations internationally in the first half of 2023, with 23 of them located outside of the Philippines.

    Last month, Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) completed the acquisition of a 60 per cent stake in Jollibee Hong Kong’s master franchisee Meko Holdings Limited, which is valued at US$16.08 million.

  • McDonald’s Korea launches voice-guided kiosks, a first in Asia

    McDonald’s Korea launches voice-guided kiosks, a first in Asia

    McDonald’s Korea has introduced voice-guided self-service kiosks at some of its Seoul locations, making it the first fast-food chain in South Korea to do so. They did this to make it easier for visually impaired customers to order.

    These special kiosks, equipped with voice guidance software and touch pads, were first installed at 15 McDonald’s stores near centers that assist visually impaired individuals and schools for the blind. People with vision problems can plug in their own earphones to hear instructions and menus, even in noisy environments.

    This move by McDonald’s in South Korea is the second of its kind, with the first being in the United States. It’s also a groundbreaking step for fast-food restaurants in South Korea. McDonald’s Korea plans to extend this service to all of its stores in the country.

    A company representative emphasized their commitment to meeting the needs of visually impaired customers, noting that they had been working on this service for a long time.

  • Hong Kong burger chain Honbo launches in Singapore

    Hong Kong burger chain Honbo launches in Singapore

    Anew hipster burger joint is coming to Singapore at the end of July 2023. Called Honbo, it was founded in 2017 by former doctor Michael Chan, who named his eatery after the Cantonese name for hamburgers (‘hon bo bao’). The brand has since expanded to six outlets in its native Hong Kong.

    It specialises in gourmet American-style smashed burgers, with handmade patties and potato milk buns made with a recipe developed in collaboration with famed French baker Eric Kayser.

    The opening date for Honbo’s Singapore outlet is still unconfirmed, though its rep tells 8days.sg that it is estimated to be end-July. The dine-in eatery is located at Chijmes.

    Honbo boasts brisket-and-chuck burger patties made with USDA prime-grade beef from Holstein and Angus cattle reared in Wisconsin. Both breeds are known for their marbling; prime beef has the highest marbling score and is more flavourful compared to beef with a lower USDA grade.

    The patties are ground in-house daily and, upon order, smashed on hot griddles and cooked to medium-rare doneness.

    The patties are then wedged between pillowy potato milk buns made with hand-mashed potatoes. The proprietary Eric Kayser-developed bun is unique to Honbo, who patented the recipe in Hong Kong.

    The burgers are garnished with “sustainably sourced greens, pickles cured in-house from Japanese cucumber and specialty sauces hand-crafted in its very own kitchen, using a closely guarded secret recipe created by the team”.

    The local menu has not been finalised, though Honbu is expected to serve its signatures including the Honbo Burger, modelled after an “old-school fast food-style” cheeseburger. Two beef patties, each weighing about 56g, are layered with two slices of cheddar.

    “The Honbu Burger is paired with our house sauce, a lot of raw onions, pickles, and no lettuce. The raw onions and pickles help cut through the greasiness, and you can really taste the crust and the meatiness. It gives the burger double the crust and double the beef grease, but it is still less juicy than the Cheese Burger, ” says founder Michael Chan (interestingly, the man was a doctor before he became an F&B entrepreneur).

    For big eaters, this burger comes in variations like Honbo 1.5 (three patties) and Honbo 2.0 (four patties), plus a Gold Standard burger with two 113g beef patties, two slices of cheese, a hash of bacon and pickles, onions and lettuce drizzled with house-made sauce.

    Prices start from S$18 for an a la carte burger, with sides offered like fries, sweet potato fries and buffalo wings.

    Beefless options are available too, like a Grilled Chicken Burger with teriyaki sauce-glazed sous vide organic chicken, a Scallop Burger with “extra-large sashimi-grade Hokkaido scallops” and wasabi pico de gallo. There is also a Soft Shell Crab Burger, with a whole fried soft shell crab coated in vodka-infused batter and served with ginger coleslaw. Wash down your burger with beverages like classic lemonade and Apple Pie Iced Tea, described as “apple pie in a glass”.

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  • KFC operator Collins Foods breaks $1 billion sales threshold

    KFC operator Collins Foods breaks $1 billion sales threshold

    The boss of major KFC franchisor in Australia, Collins Foods, still believes that the company’s quick-service Mexican food business Taco Bell can succeed in the Australian market despite the brand’s results hitting the group’s full-year profits.

    Revenue at Collins Foods was up 14.2 percent to $1.3 billion in the 12 months to April 30. KFC stores hit $1 billion in revenue for the first time, but the company’s net profit declined by 76.7 per cent to $12.7 million.

    A $36.7 million impairment against the Taco Bell business impacted the results, with Taco Bell stores posting a same-store sales decline of 4.8 percent for the year.

    Collins Foods’ shares surged 16.7 percent to $9.17 in late afternoon trade on Tuesday despite the drop in net profit for the year, with analysts saying the strength of KFC sales was impressive and the outlook for the group’s brands was positive.

    UBS analysts said the numbers were stronger than expected, with a key surprise being the strength of the company’s growth and earnings margins in Europe.

    Australia’s quick-service Mexican food market has become increasingly crowded over the past few years, with brands like Guzman y Gomez growing strongly, but Collins Foods chief executive Drew O’Malley said there was still a place for Taco Bell in the Australian market.

    “New brands can take time to gain traction. We have seen similar trends in other markets in the early years, where the brand [Taco Bell] is now thriving today,” he said.

    But the company acknowledges that it has had to invest in “enhancements to product quality” to bring more Australian consumers into Taco Bell stores.

    O’Malley said one key area of recent investment been in the quality of the brand’s chips.

    “One of my favorite examples is on French fries – we had gotten a number of complaints from our customers around chips being soggy. We have very recently launched an ultra-premium, sure-crisp French fry with McCain,” he said.

    “We have seen an immediate change in customer perception … Especially since we do so much customer delivery, we think that’s really important for the brand.”

    Collins Foods pointed to sustained inflationary pressures when releasing its full-year numbers on Tuesday, and O’Malley said the impacts of rising input costs is expected to be felt into next year.

    But he was upbeat about the value position of KFC in the current economic environment, saying customers view the fast food retailer as providing the best value in the market.

    “If you look at the consumer today, it’s like 12 straight rate increases, [which] has meant 12 straight letters from your bank saying your mortgage is going up. We are very sensitive to that, and we want to make sure our brands excel at a time like this,” he said.

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