Burger King is revamping its best-selling item on the menu – the Whopper, after nearly 10 years. According to a CNN report, the Burger King Whopper will now have a premium bun, creamier mayonnaise and will come in a box instead of paper.
The company said it rolled out the revamped Whoppers in more than 7,000 outlets in America this week.
Why is the Whooper being revamped?
Burger King decided to give its Whopper a makeover after consumers complained that its iconic smashed burgers were falling apart over the years.
“So the Whopper being smushed, literally, I’ve heard it… and we’ve seen it,” Tom Curtis, Burger King (US and Canada) President, told CNN. He said that the company has improved the packaging of the Whopper to one “that kind of holds it together”.
“The creamier mayonnaise frankly just came from some franchisees who said they wanted to see a more premium mayonnaise. And then also upgrading and premium-izing the bun,” he added.
Curtis realized that customer feedback was by far the best way to make changes, and so he started taking calls directly from customers last week.
Burger King is ‘careful’ with these changes
Curtis told CNN that the restaurant chain was “careful” with its changes. The beef patty, for example, remains the same.
“You don’t want to just tear up the playbook and start all over,” he said. “It’s like we’re putting our famous iconic burger in a tuxedo instead of a leisure suit.”
Will the Whopper cost more now?
According to the CNN report, the “enhanced” Whopper will cost Burger King franchisees an extra $4,000 a year.
However, local franchisee owners have been advised not to raise prices, as the restaurant suggested that this investment would help drive up sales.
“It’s very tricky” for franchisees, said Robert Byrne, senior director of consumer research at Technomic. He told CNN that the franchisees might say that the cost of labor hasn’t gotten any cheaper, “so why are you asking me to spend more over here?”
“Well, to improve your business, but that’s a struggle,” Byrne added.
How did the revamp come together?
This new Whopper took Burger King seven months to test the mayonnaise, burger buns and packaging.
Amy Alarcon, Burger King’s head chef, told CNN that no idea was discarded in the BK kitchen, and they even thought of an upside-down burger – a burger with beef patties as buns.
Building the burger upside down was “actually distracting from the objective,” she said.
Amy shared that she got nearly a dozen bakezenries on board for this redesign. The baking pan’s size was changed to give the bread more life and glaze.
“It helps the sesame seeds stick to the bun better, and then just creates that visual appeal,” she said, adding that the new buns make the Whopper look a little more artisanal and less like a factory-produced high-speed-production-baked item.
For the mayo, the kitchen team wanted creamier notes, a little sweetness, and a hint of citrus. For the packaging, the team found that the clamshell box kept the burger fresh “while still retaining some of the heat and getting that melty cheese experience,” said Amy.
