Burger King to invest $400 mn to ‘reclaim the flame’

dpa Miami US fast food chain Burger King unveiled its "Reclaim the Flame” plan on Monday, with $400 million in investment in US restaurants, aiming to accelerate sales growth and drive franchisee profitability.During the next two years, the fast-food hamburger chain will spend $150 million in advertising and digital investments to "Fuel the Flame” and $250 million for a "Royal Reset.” This would involve restaurant technology, kitchen equipment, building enhancements and high-quality remodels and relocations, affecting around 3,000 restaurants.The investment, combined with a brand repositioning plan, menu enhancements and focus on operational excellence, would help drive its aim of improving the guest experience and attracting more traffic back to the brand over time.In 2023 and 2024, the company expects the planned investments to have an average annual impact to adjusted earnings per share of negative $0.10 to negative $0.12, before considering benefits from any potential sales improvements. In 2025 and beyond, the impact would be accretive to adjusted earnings per share.The "Reclaim the Flame” plan has been endorsed by Burger King ranchisees representing more than 93% of all US restaurants. They have agreed to coinvest in increased advertising firepower during the coming years.In its new menu plans, Burger King will invest in premium branding to reaffirm the elevated position of its flame-grilled Whopper and is developing new flavour extensions.As part of its efforts to build a destination worthy chicken sandwich portfolio, it has launched the royal crispy chicken - a premium chicken sandwich with unique flavour variations.