MIAMI – Burger King recently became king of the (hot) dogs upon announcing the addition of Grilled Dogs to its menu starting Feb. 23. Burger King will sell hot dogs in more restaurants than any other restaurant chain in the United States (Did you hear that, Wienerschnitzel?). The launch also represents the biggest menu change in decades for Burger King.
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| Alex Macedo, president, Burger King North America |
“The introduction of Grilled Dogs just made sense to our guests and for our brand,” said Alex Macedo, president of Burger King’s North America operations. “We’re applying over 60 years of flame-grilling expertise with the Whopper sandwich to make Grilled Dogs the next great American icon.”
Grilled Dogs will be available in both the Classic Grilled Dog and the Chili Cheese Grilled Dog.
Burger King believes hot dog sales represent a huge growth opportunity for the chain. In 2014, for example, Americans spent more than $2.5 billion buying hot dogs at retail, according to National Hot Dog and Sausage Council data; and Americans consume an estimated 150 million hot dogs over the July 4 holiday alone.
Serving hot dogs isn’t a stretch for Burger King. The company will use equipment it already owns; Kraft Heinz Co.’s Oscar Mayer unit will supply the hot dogs; and the condiments used to dress the new hot dogs are made by Kraft Heinz, which, like Burger King’s parent company Restaurant Brands International, is owned by 3GCapital Partners LP, a Brazilian private equity firm.
Burger King enlisted celebrity entertainers to appear in training videos:
Rapper Snoop Dogg
and Charo, who appeared in the Spanish-language version.
