The "better burger" scene has been the common choice of aspiring entrepreneurs as their entry to food and beverage. However, the newcomer from New Zealand, BurgerFuel, might venture into the scene despite the stiff competition. The brand will work with another famous name, Subway led by Fred DeLuca and Peter Buck.
As reported in The New York Times, Buck and DeLuca bought 10% stake from Burger Fuel last Januray with the help from their investment affiliate, Franchise Brands, which helps newcomers in the business. BurgerFuel has high hopes in the partnership formed by famous names and eventually be able to expand all throughout United States. The expected expansion will start from selling franchises to Subway operators, which are already well-established and operating over 25,500 stores in United States.
As of press time, the top ranks from Milford Connecticut-based Subway did not comment about this.
The Chicago-based executive vice president of a research firm Technomic Inc., Darrent Tristano, said that Subway's development in unconventional areas like church, Goodwill training office and car showrooms, conveys that franchisees' are eager to keep up with the demand of restaurants.
Dennis Lombardi, who is also an industry expert and executive vice president of Columbus Ohio-based WD Partners, also added that Subway franchisees are also interested in opening more stores but will depend on the area. For them, the expansion will take time and not as fast as how BurgerFuel does.
For the recent partnership with BurgerFuel, the possible development can begin by Subway opening in a more conventional areas that can attract more crowd, as per Tristano's suggestion. In addition he said that Subway must try to look into how other names like Buffalo Wild Wings's partnership with PizzaRev and Chipotle's intention in Shophouse Southeast Asian Kitchen and Pizzeria Locale, do it.
The recent business move might bring up several issues from business experts but regardless of the criticism, Subway and BurgerFuel will have to work on their partnership to show their critics what they are capable of.
