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Burger King Executive Chef John Koch

Burger King is rethinking and revising its menu. Branded Cinnabon cinnamon rolls are now available in some markets (at $1.99 apiece or two for $3.29, three for $5.99); it has introduced the $5 Chef’s Choice and $1.99 BK Toppers burgers; and it has recently upgraded its fries and bacon. The bacon-and-oyster Hangtown Fry isn’t on the menu, but John Koch, Executive Chef and Director of Product Innovation for Culinary Research & Development, says he’d love to give it a shot. Koch (pronounced “cook”) talked to BurgerBusiness.com about the process of creating new menu items.

BurgerBusiness.com: Talk a little about the development of the Chef’s Choice burger you brought out in October. It seems like an important shift toward a more “artisan” culinary style for Burger King
Chef John Koch: Well, we set out by asking, “How can we make the most premium burger in the category? What would it look like to have a bacon-topped cheeseburger where every element is as good as we can make it?” So we put together a 100% ground chuck patty that’s seasoned, of course, with thick-cut hardwood-smoked bacon and thick cut cheese, romaine lettuce, red onion and a sauce we designed just for that sandwich.

How many sauce variations do you think you tried before you hit one you thought was completely right?
We probably went through at least a dozen before we settled on the one that’s on there today.

What was the toughest element of the sandwich to get right?
You know, I think the toughest was the bun. I bet we looked at 50 variations and then tweaked the final variation over and over again before we got the bun we were completely happy with.

If the bun was that important, does that mean you’ll look at improved buns for future burgers and sandwiches?

BK's new Chef's Choice burger

We’re always looking to make improvements in our core products or introduce new items. But absolutely, buns will be part of our consideration.

When you’re developing a new menu item, you have so many variables to consider: food cost, menu price point, ease of execution by crew, etc. How do you juggle or prioritize those elements?
I’ve been a restaurant owner and operator myself, so it’s pretty easy for me to think about what’s important on the front line [of a kitchen line]. I just approach it by thinking of the people who will have to serve that burger each and every day, and asking how I can put it together in a way that will work for the people on that line

Beef prices have gone up significantly in the past year. Are you creating items with a certain menu-price point in mind?
We always have to be cognizant of what an item may sell for, but as with the Chef’s Choice, if a product is at a premium price and people really like it, then it’s a good value. Then it works.

Are you looking at developing new items for the value-price end of the spectrum as well?
Sure. We have to look at the entire [price] spectrum and ask how we can offer something that will be delicious and interesting regardless of price.

I know you’re a BurgerBusiness.com subscriber, but how else do you keep up with burger trends?
Personally, I like to go out and experience a lot of burgers personally! I look at a number of sites and industry publications. But checking out independent restaurants is a great way to find out what’s happening.

Do you have a favorite food that you wish you could adapt to the Burger King menu but you just haven’t found a way to do it?
I do have a favorite food, but I haven’t thought of putting it on the Burger King menu. It’s a Hangtown Fry. You might not be familiar with it, but it’s a West Coast dish from the 1800s. It’s scrambled eggs, fresh oysters and crispy bacon, and it is to die for.

OK, that might not be ready for the BK menu. But if not oysters, have you been looking more closely at other proteins: chicken, turkey, pork?
Those are always under consideration. If they resonate with consumers, you’ll see us do more things [beyond beef].

How do you explain the continuing popularity of burgers?
I think they’re just satisfying on a visceral level. They’re convenient and they put everything you want right there. You get bread, that satisfaction from cooked meat and all the flavor complexity: salty and savory and even acidic if you have a sauce. It’s really everything that your body craves all at once. I don’t know anything else that’s quite that satisfying.

Except maybe bacon?
Well, a burger with bacon. Then you’re really there.

They’re not as good as a burger but nice infographics can be very satisfying. Consider, for example, this timely “state of the union” creation from the Johnny Rockets chain. To kick off its new blog, called The Original Hamburger, the chain compiled a variety of data on consumer dining behavior for this work of info art.

Note that 93% of those surveyed say they eat at one burger a month, with 61% enjoying about one a week. When people dine at Johnny Rockets, the Bacon Cheddar Double is the favorite in the West; the Smoke House Single scores big in the South; Midwesterners like the Route 66; and the Original is the top pick in the Southeast and Northeast.
[Can't see the whole graphic? Click it and expand it.]

“The headline is, ‘We’re staying on the move in 2012,’ ” McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner told analysts today in announcing Q4 and full-year 2011 sales results. But if that was the headline, the subhead was “So operators should stop squawking.”

Chicken McBites were rolled out nationally this week.

Skinner and other McDonald’s executives were addressing Wall Street analysts in their conference call, but their remarks also functioned as a response to those McDonald’s franchisees who complained recently about its menu pricing. A survey of operators by Janney Montgomery Scott analyst Mark Kalinowski found some franchisees dissatisfied with the Dollar Menu especially. “Dollar Menu is a dinosaur,” said one operator. “We are close to hitting the wall on this issue. We need to accept diminishing profits or do something about the Dollar Menu,” said another.

But the Dollar Menu, as Skinner said of Ronald McDonald recently, isn’t going anywhere. The Plan to Win strategy is working, he insisted, and he has the numbers to back that up. The Q4 and full-year 2011 results (read the financial results here) were far better than any other QSR competitor’s. McDonald’s Q4 global comp sales rose 7.5%, with the U.S. up 7.1%, Europe up 7.3% and Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa up 6.9% (comp sales for China alone were up 15.6%). Skinner emphasized that the U.S. comp-sales increase was the best since 2006. Skinner singled out the Breakfast Dollar Menu as a reason U.S. sales have been strong.

Premium-price wraps, like these tried in Austria, could come to McDonald's in the U.S. this year.

Further proof that the corporate strategy is working comes in McDonald’s .5% gain in it’s the U.S. QSR market share, which now stands at 12.5%. Globally, McDonald’s has increased to 68 million from 64 million the number of people it serves daily. In other word, the headline is, “Settle down, the strategy is working.”

But McDonald’s President-COO Don Thompson also gave its franchises a “We feel your pain” acknowledgement by conceding that the chain needs to balance its menu, with higher-margin premium-price food items offsetting the value-price items. Thompson said the U.S. operation has not done as well as Europe on developing premium-price sandwiches and wraps. Some of these (including the 1955 Burger?) likely will be imported to the U.S. menu, he said, as the U.S. continues to export its breakfast and smoothie/frappe items globally.

McDonald’s menu prices rose 3% in 2011, including a less-than-1% bump in November. EVP-CFO Peter Bensen said the chain will “offset some but not all” of expected commodity-cost increases (projected at 4.5% to 5.5% this year) with careful menu-price adjustments this year that do not exceed the inflation rate for food away from home.

Chicken McBites were rolled out nationally yesterday, supported by new TV advertising. Coming later this year are a new Cherry Berry Chiller for McCafé and a Blueberry Banana Nut extension of its breakfast oatmeal. Skinner stressed that McDonald’s still has opportunities to expand its morning menu and sales, now at about 25% of the total.

Last year was a turning point for the burger boom. The pivot is evidenced by the relative absence of burger-menu spots on “best new restaurants of 2011” lists. But contrary to what some industry observers/doubters choose to believe, I don’t think this represents a decline in burger popularity. The list below shows that quality new openings continue. But the perceptions of burgers by operators, critics and diners are changing.

Stack Burger's Morning Glory burger

Burgers’ overall popularity is shown by the number of those “best new” restaurants that do feature a burger on their menu. Unlike in the past few years, however, their menus just aren’t all burgers. The degree to which burgers are now expected is clear at T. Murray’s Bar & Kitchen—on Columbus (Ohio) Underground’s best-new list—where the item is labeled on the menu simply as “Our Burger.” Gotta have one. It’s a good one, at least: a half-pound, hand pattied burger with farmhouse Cheddar, crispy applewood bacon, lettuce, tomato, red onion and pickle on a roll with house-cut shoestring fries. Similarly, in The Detroit Free Press’s review of one of its best new spots for 2011, The Root Restaurant & Bar, the paper notes “There’s also a fabulous hamburger.” Of course, there is. This is the “one great burger” strategy, which has become commonplace and is a tribute to burgers’ importance to the American menu.

Stackhouse Burger Bar

Also evident on many “best new” lists is the presence of “non-native” burger concepts. These are burger brands that migrate into other markets but still aren’t treated as though they are “chains.” Danny Meyer’s Shake Shack is the prime example, and it’s included on the Washington Post’s 2011 list. New York City’s 5 Napkin Burger is on the Boston Globe’s “best new” list of 2011. Northern Virginia magazine “best new” list includes BGR The Burger Joint, although the concept has opened more than a dozen locations over the past few years. So with Bobby Flay, 5 Guys, Smashburger, The Counter and others spreading out fast, the answer to restaurant critics’ common gripe that “burger joints are opening everywhere” is that, in part, what we’re seeing is just the marketplace sorting out and rewarding concepts that are successful.

Last year saw a few new “celebrity” burger joints: actors Mark and Donny Wahlberg’s Wahlburger in Hingham, Mass.; and Carnival cruise ships’ Guy’s Burger Joint, bearing the name, if not the presence, of Food Network workhorse Guy Fieri.

But there were truly new and notable burger-joint openings in 2011. Some made it onto “best new” lists, but many were overlooked because burger spots seem too trendy, too easy to some critics. Below are 14 new places with the courage to offer more than “one great burger” and that brought something special to the party. Together they yield the best “state of the burger industry” trend report to be had.

Baltimore Burger Bar, Baltimore

http://www.baltimoreburgerbar.com

Anisha Jagtap told the North Baltimore Patch she was bored. That’s why she transformed her Puffs and Pastries dessert shop in Baltimore’s funky Hampden neighborhood to Baltimore Burger Bar. She’s not bored now, and neither are diners. The joint is the essence of the playfulness that infuses the best burger joints. Recent menu items have included an End-of-the World 2012 Burger (grass-fed beef; Cheddar; black-eyed pea and pickled pork belly hash; roasted garlic mayo; sweet-and-sour ketchup and bacon) and an “I Love Lucy” tribute to the juicy-lucy burger with Monterey Jack; herbed apple, parsnip and heirloom carrot salad; caramelized onion; Djion mustard and a chiffonade of romaine hearts.

BRU Burger Bar, Indianapolis
www.bruonmass.com
BRU packs a lot onto its one-page menu: beer list, wine list (glass and bottles), specialty cocktails, apps and sides, salads, sandwiches, desserts and, of course, burgers. Like the economical menu, there’s no excess here, just on-trend burger innovation. The list of “Classics” includes a $4 mini and a $9 Classic Bacon Cheeseburger. House-specialty “Chef Burgers” include the $10 Mount Olympus, topped with a Greek salad (pepperoni, feta, fried garbanzos, red onion, marinated mushrooms, kalamata olives, chopped lettuce and roasted-tomato dressing), and the $10 Provençal (basil aïoli, red onion, herbed goat cheese and marinated portabello). The house BRU Burger is a bit simpler, with Taleggio cheese, bacon, tomato jam, porter-braised onion, chopped lettuce and mayo. When you get a hankering for a dressed-up burger, this is the sort of place where you head.

Burger Bar 419, Toledo, Ohio

http://www.burgerbar419.com

How do you get to be considered one of the year’s best new arrivals? By being a fun hangout with beers like Alltech Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale on tap and menu that goes all-in on burgers.  Start with siracha-soy deviled eggs or roasted marrow bones but move to the burgers, which include the $9 Carolina BBQ (with barbecue sauce, Cheddar, sweet and tangy slaw and fried onion strings) and The Italian (arugula, balsamic grilled tomato, basil aïoli and mozarella with pickled peppers).

Butcher and The Burger, Chicago

http://www.butcherandtheburger.com

Chef Al Sternweiler and business partner Josh Woodward describe their restaurant as “a neighborhood burger counter at heart” augmented by “a dash of old-fashioned butcher shop with a pinch of culinary artistry mixed in.” In other words, it is the epitome of 21^st century up-market burger joints, where burgers are well-dressed and good looking. Choose your protein from the meat locker and have seasoned with salt and pepper or with one of several house seasoning blends before it goes on the char-broiler.
Click here to continue reading The Top New Burger Restaurants

GrubGrade says this is Wendy's latest.

Ah, chains can menu chicken if they must but they can’t stop trying to perfect better burgers, can they? Wendy’s can’t. GrubGrade reports that in Wichita, Kan., the chain is testing yet another premium burger line that it’s calling Black Label Hamburgers, a name reminiscent of top-shelf spirits.

This is the same chain that shocked the burger business by following its introduction of the Dave’s Hot ’n Juicy Cheeseburgers with another, lower-price burger, the W Cheeseburger. The Black Label line (no, not black buns like the Dark Vador burger from Quick) includes Bacon Portabella and guacamole-topped Spicy Santa Fe versions, according to GrubGrade’s sources. Most interesting is that Wendy’s apparently is crossing the $5 barrier for these premium burgers.

McDonald's CoCo Bacon

● If you’re still being asked just how many new and different burgers there really can be, direct the doubters to this year’s Mein Burger promotion at McDonald’s in Germany. The chain invites burger lovers to create new burgers using ingredients from pre-existing McDonald’s creations. The website showcases literally hundreds of possibilities for which consumers can vote. It’s a promotion idea that easily can be tried in burger joints here.

One of my favorites is the CoCo Bacon with barbecue sauce; red lettuce; two beef patties, each with Cheddar cheese; and bacon on an onion-cheese bun.

The Greene Turtle Sports Bar & Grille chain still believes in burgers. On Jan. 2, the 30-unit mid-Atlantic chain introduced a limited-time menu of four half-pound stuffed burgers: the Spicy Jack (stuffed with jalapeňos, pepper-Jack and Cheddar cheeses); the Pep & Cheese (stuffed with pepperoni, fresh basil and Provolone cheese); the Bacon & Cheddar (stuffed with smoked bacon and Cheddar); and the Ham & Cheese (stuffed with smoky pit ham and Swiss cheese).
BurgerBusiness.com spoke with Greene Turtle COO Bob Barry about the chain’s vote of confidence in burgers at a time when many others are instead promoting chicken.

The pepperoni-stuffed Pep & Cheese

BurgerBusiness.com: I predicted that 2011 would be the year of the stuffed burger and it just didn’t happen.
Bob Barry: You were ahead of your time, my friend.

Unfortunately so. But tell me why you decided to make stuffed burgers the focus of Greene Turtle’s menu this year.
Back in September we started thinking about what we could do with the menu in 2012. Typically we do a new menu in April or May. For the last few years we’ve augmented that with limited-time offers that we hope will keep things fresh. Most of the time we do standard things, you know? Usually one from each category: an appetizer, a sandwich, a burger, an entrée and a new dessert for the LTOs. But we started looking around and watching what the burger trends were on your site and on Food Network and elsewhere, and we started scouting the opportunities.

What are you looking for? Are you trying to ride the trends or go beyond them?
We want to be unique. We started talking about big sandwiches and grown-up grilled cheese and we said, “hey what about stuffed burgers?” It led us to doing some more research and play around, and we narrowed it these four. We thought they were different. I know a lot of independent burger places do stuffed burgers, but no regional or national chain was launching them. We felt they gave us a unique position and an identity that’s fresh and different.

And then you took it to your beverage menu, which is a great idea.

Greene Turtle's Bacon & Cheddar

Yeah, we wanted to push it and take it a step further. We talked to some of our beverage suppliers and they said that a lot of people are doing things with combinations of craft beers and spirits.  We started playing with some ideas with that, too. So one side of the LTO has the stuffed burgers and on the other side are what we call our stuffed beers.

How does a stuffed beer work?
Well, we’ve got a Pennsylvania OJ that has Yuengling lager with Smirnoff Orange vodka and orange juice. Another is the Irish Float with Guinness, Bacardi Oakheart Rum and vanilla ice cream topped with chocolate sauce. The Royal Stella is Stella Artois, Crown Royal and Smirnoff Blueberry vodka. We’re doing some unique things and we’re having fun.

How have your customers responded?
In our first week of sales, total burger sales were just under 14,000. That’s regular and stuffed. But 65% of burger sales were stuffed. That’s a great response.

What’s the early winner among the four stuffed burgers?
Right now, the Bacon & Cheddar is leading the pack. The Ham & Cheese and Pep & Cheese are doing well, too. The Spicy Jack is probably a little behind the others initially but it’s spicy and it may take a while to find its audience. But they’re all doing fine.

Those sales are strong enough that you must be thinking, “Hey, we’re scheduled to take these off the menu on March 26!” Can you afford to do that?
Yeah, I just met with my VP-marketing yesterday and we’re thinking that if these continue to go in the direction they’re headed, we’ll change plans a bit. Our [initial] plan was to launch the new menu somewhere around May 14. Now the thought is that after March 5, we’ll categorize them as the final four—there are only four them anyway, of course—and have some fun with a March Madness promotion. We’ll ask which one of the stuffed burgers is going to win. We’re thinking that after April 2, we’ll continue to offer the two top sellers. We’ll say we’re continuing to offer the champion and the runner-up until our new menu comes out. The plan then would be to continue them onto the new menu. Click here to continue reading Greene Turtle’s Stuffed Burgers, Stuffed Beers

McDonald's will open its largest restaurant at the London games.

Its status as Official Restaurant of the Olympic Games has been one way McDonald’s has for decades signaled its position as the world’s largest restaurant brand. With increasing globalization of the restaurant market, that position is increasingly valuable, and McDonald’s isn’t about to let another chain supplant it at the Olympics. That’s why McDonald’s Corp. today announced that it has reached an agreement with the International Olympic Committee to extend its role as an elite TOP (The Olympic Partner Program) sponsor for an additional eight years, through 2020.

McDonald’s Corp. President-COO Don Thompson made the announcement in Innsbruck, Austria, where the chain is sponsoring  the Youth Olympics. Stressing that the sponsorship benefits go “beyond financial,” Thompson noted that the extension give McDonald’s a presence in the 2014 winter games in Sochi, Russia; 2016 summer games in Rio de Janeiro and 2018 winter games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.  The 2020 summer games site has not yet been determined. “These are all significant markets for us,” said Thompson. Beyond brand-building, the value of the Olympics, he added, is their ability to “unify the world in ways that are constructive, positive and inspirational.” According to Reuters, TOP sponsors pay approximately $100 million for top-level sponsorship roles for each winter/summer Olympics tandem.

McDonald’s has been involved with the Olympics since 1976 but its sponsorship would have expired after the upcoming summer games in London, beginning July 27 and closing on Aug. 12. EVP-Global Chief Brand Officer Kevin Newell said McDonald’s will not conduct a global advertising campaign or menu promotion for the Olympics but said individual countries may do so. McDonald’s is building four massive restaurants for the London Games venue, including a 9,843-square-foot, two-floor restaurant that will be the largest in its system.

Newell said the menu would be the ”most diverse” that the chain has offered at an Olympics. It will include smoothies, wraps and some elements of its UK menu, including porridge. Happy Meals will be served as well. A global McDonald’s Champions of Play program will promote healthy eating and active play for kids. Five-time U.S. Olympic swimmer Dara Torres serves as global ambassador for the program.

Steak ’n Shake’s previously announced promise to freeze prices for 2012 apparently doesn’t preclude lowering those prices.

The Indianapolis-based chain’s latest move, made over the weekend in a couponed newspaper insert, is a bold effort to joint the trend to bundling multi-person meals. Steak ’n Shake’s version is a Family 4 Pack, which offers any four of its Under $4 Meals plus any four regular Classic milk shakes for $19.99 with coupon. In this instance, the total amount of the discount is less significant than that four meals must be purchased to see the savings.

McDonald's returns to 1955

To deepen the offer, Steak ’n Shake is doubling the Under $4 Meal line with four new $3.99 entrees: 3 Shooters (mini burgers) and fries; Cheesy Cheddar Steak Frank and fries; Chili Cheese Steak Frank and fries and its Chicago-Style Steak Frank and fries. Further, another coupon extends Steak ’n Shake’s half-price-milk-shake “Happy Hour” deal to any hour of the day.

◘ Full circle: After a grand tour of European menu boards, McDonald’s 1955 Burger is back on the Arches’ menu in Germany, where the burger first appeared in 2010. It returns supported by a new TV commercial (at left) from agency Heye OMD that goes beyond summoning the styles of 1955 (when Ray Kroc opened his first McDonald’s). This one evokes black leather, rock ’n roll and Marilyn Monroe. Watch the commercial here.

Among all the “amaranth is the next quinoa” forecasts for 2012, one important restaurant trend has been neglected. Multi-person meal bundles are going to be a significant menu-marketing tactic for chains this year and beyond.

One indication comes in the coupon booklets Burger King distributed this week. What had been previously tested as BK Family Bundles have been streamlined to simply BK Bundle meals and have expanded to include breakfast. There’s even a new sell line: “Great taste to go around.”

The $9.99 three-person meal incorporates a Whopper, Whopper Jr. and 10 Chicken Tenders (plus three small fries and drinks). A new “Breakfast for Two” bundle has two Croissan’wiches and two small hash browns with two small coffees or fountain drinks for just $5.99.

The bundled/boxed meal isn’t limited to burgers, of course. See Pizza Hut’s current $19.95 Big Dinner Box deal with pizza, wings and bread sticks. Hardee’s has tried two-person boxed meals. Or Taco Bell’s multi-person (let’s hope) Taco 12 Pack.

The U.S. lags the rest of the world in embracing boxed, bundled meals as a marketing tool. McDonald’s pioneered it two years ago in Australia with its four-person Family Dinner Box in Australia. Since then it has added two-person Mates Meal lunches. KFC has countered in Australia with four-person Family Burger Box meals.

Multi-person meals that maximize profitability for operators by including multiple high-margin items such as sides and beverages are going to proliferate here as they have elsewhere.

● New research from The NPD Group continues to show that such marketing tactics are largely ineffective in building customer visits in such a stagnant economy. At the close of 2011′s Q3, foodservice traffic was weak in most countries around the world.

In the U.S., average check rose 1.8% (thanks in part to price increases) to $6.23 while customer traffic declined 0.6%. In Canada, average check rose 0.8%; traffic rose 2.7%. For the UK, check average declined 0.5% and traffic dipped 0.4%. The outlier, of course, was China, where average check rose 0.7% to $2.70 while customer traffic soared by 18.7%.

● And then there’s Quick, the French burger chain. I usually don’t bother with gimmick burgers that glorify gluttony, or are silly or otherwise are outside real restaurateuring. But the Dark Vador burger and its black bun is too unusual to resist.

As initially reported by L’Express, the Quick chain on Jan. 31 will tie-in to the debut of the Star Wars series’ “The Phantom Menace” in 3D (on Feb. 8) with three double-patty themed burger LTOs. In addition to the Dark Vador, the menu includes a Jedi Burger and a regular-bun Dark Burger (tied to character Darth Maul). It just proves that there really is no limit to new ideas in the burger business.

Operators already are expressing uneasiness about consumer confidence, spending and inflation in the year ahead. And it’s only Jan. 3.

After a year in which most operators were forced to raise menu prices to balance rising food prices, Steak ‘n Shake today announced it has frozen its prices for 2012. It’s a 52-week-long promotion! The preemptive tactic assumes that consumers will be increasingly budget–conscious in 2012, as suggested by CEO Sardar Biglari in a statement: “Steak ‘n Shake has an extremely strong value proposition that resonates with consumers. During 2012, we have no intention of raising menu prices, especially because we are attempting to insulate our customers from inflation while continuing to provide the finest in burgers and shakes.”

Steak ‘n Shake’s action is one of several recent price-reduction indicators that indicate operators see continued depressed—if not depression—economic conditions ahead in 2012. Among others:

● McDonald’s is again promoting its Dollar Menu nationally, and at least one region (Northern California) is offering free coffee. “In this challenging economic climate, we know that many are struggling to make ends meet and this is our way of lending support during these difficult times,” McDonald’s operator Steven Ramirez says in release announcing the program.

● Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s have just concluded a “12 Days of Happy” promotion (at right)that offered a different discount daily from Dec. 22 to Jan. 2.

● Wendy’s is promoting its My 99¢ value menu, to which it has added an improved Jr. Cheeseburger.

● Sonic begins the year with a traffic-building promotion offering addition of chili-cheese topping to any item and featuring a Chili Cheese Coney, Jr. Chili Cheeseburger and Chili Cheese Tots for just $1.99. White Castle is into chili, too, adding Chili Cheese Fries and Angus Steak Chili. And on the West Coast, Wienerschnitzel has brought back its 99¢ Original Chili Dog for a limited time.

Fears about a tough sales year ahead aren’t restricted to the U.S., either. London-based foodservice researcher Horizons says “the UK hospitality sector faces its biggest challenge yet as 2012 brings a fourth year of retrenchment.” Even this summer’s Olympic Games won’t provide much of an uplift for foodservice, Horizons Managing Director Peter Backman predicts, since “operators outside the Olympic venues could see visitor numbers drop.” Read the report here.

Is it hot in here or is McDonald’s signaling its willingness to bring some heat to menus? Having shown a willingness to go spicy but displaying a reluctance to venture too far into the world of chiles, the Arches are ending the year on a hot note in a few markets.

Burger King has specialized in developing chile-spiced burgers, marketing such creations as the Hot Texas Whopper currently on offer in Sweden; the Hot BBQ Whopper in the UK; and the Angry Whopper hanging out in Canada, Denmark and elsewhere. McDonald’s shows that it, too,  can slice a chile with the Big Hot Jalapeño burger and Chicken Hot Jalapeño, just added in Denmark. A uncharacteristically steamy TV commercial (at left) accompanies the launch. These burgers follow the recent appearance of the Red Chili Pepper burger in France (although it was spiced with Tabasco hot sauce rather than sliced chiles) and Chicken Scorcher in Australia.

With new Chicken McBites already sporting a spicy variety, 2012 promises to feature hot competition among burger chains.

Here are a few other end-of-the-year burger newsbites to savor:

● Wendy’s continues to—literally—beef up its burger menu. After introducing the Dave’s Hot ‘n Juicy burgers and W Cheeseburgers, the soon-to-be-No.-2 burger chain also has revamped the Jr. Cheeseburger on its 99¢ Value Menu. The new patty is touted as being 25% bigger than its predecessor. Wendy’s also has introduced nationally the 99¢ Cheesy Cheddarburger it has widely tested over the past six months.

Jr. Cheeseburger: Now 25% larger

Much is being made of Wendy’s $16 foie-gras-topped burger in its Japan stores, but it should be noted that France’s Quick burger chain’s Suprême Foie Gras burger was on the scene earlier. And cheaper.

● True to its bundled-meals strategy, Jack in the Box closes 2011 with a Jumbo Jack Deal priced at $4.25. The offer is a Jumbo Jack burger, two tacos, small fries and small beverage. Jack still isn’t talking to consumers about its burgers, which it claims to have upgraded.

● Keep an eye on the burger battle in South America. The continent is not just home base (Brazil) to 3G Capital, the investors who acquired Burger King, it is BK’s best-performing (in terms of same-store-sales growth) region. Argentina, meanwhile, is the base of Arcos Dorados, the McDonald’s franchisee that went public this year in a $1.8 billion IPO. Both brands want to do especially well in Latin America, where the opportunities for continued growth are great.

In Argentina, Burger King is in the midst of WhopperFest and group of LTOs that include Whopper Triple, Whopper Extreme Max and Whopper Rodeo burgers. McDonald’s counters with Triple Bacon burger.

● Wishes for a happy, profitable new year to all subscribers, visitors and sympathizers. Please drop by BurgerBusiness.com even more more often in 2012. I’ll strive to make it even more worth your time.

Happy Holidays from BurgerBusiness.com. Here’s hoping the holidays are merry and 2012 is brighter for loyal subscribers and occasional readers alike. Our warmest thoughts go to the good folks at Red Gold, a wonderful brand that keeps this site’s lights on.

Traditionally, the year closes with a roundup of burger chains worth watching in the coming year. We’re not counting Smashburger, Elevation Burger, Epic Burger or any of the others that already have established themselves (see last year’s list). The 12 chains below are up-and-comers that shouldn’t fly under your radar. Check ’em out:

Umami Burger

◘ Bareburger, New York City (six open). The beef’s organic and grass-fed or you can choose lamb, wild boar, elk, bison or ostrich. The Ruby burger has Havarti cheese, pastrami, blackened maple bacon, fried bread-and-butter pickles, apple-smoked onion and horseradish mayo, and it’s $11.95. I wish my neighborhood had a Bareburger.

◘ Umami Burger, Los Angeles (seven open). When even the Wall Street Journal raves about your burgers and the James Beard Foundation blog calls your Stinkburger (garlic confit, Taleggio cheese, raw onions and anchovy tempura) one of the year’s 10 best dishes, you know you’re onto something good.

Burger 21's Shroom Burger

◘ Burger 21, Tampa, Fla. (two open). Owned by the company that also operates casual-fondue chain The Melting Pot, Burger 21 has big plans, as executives told BurgerBusiness.com in a September interview.  The Tex-Mex Haystack burger brings together lettuce, tomato, applewood-smoked bacon, smoked Cheddar, guacamole, crispy onion strings and chipotle-jalapeño sauce on a brioche bun.

◘ M Burger, Chicago (four open). M Burger is one of the less-ambitious concepts developed by Rich Melman’s Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises empire, which runs many of Chicago’s best restaurants (Everest, Shaw’s, Mon Ami Gabi, etc.). Like New York City’s Shake Shack, M Burger is simple and crowded.

Bagger Dave's Blues Burger

◘ Bagger Dave’s Legendary Burger Tavern, Southfield, Mich. (six open). Parent Company Diversified Restaurant Holdings also develops Buffalo Wild Wings stores, but Bagger Dave’s is by far the cooler concept. The menu has beer and wine pairing suggestions for each burger. The Santa Fe Chipotle Burger? How about a pilsner or brown ale, or perhaps a Riesling or Torrontés?

◘ Tom & Eddie’s, Lombard, Ill. (four open). When we interviewed former McDonald’s Corp. execs Tom Dentice and Ed Rensi a year ago, they had just opened their first Tom & Eddie’s. Now there are four with more to come, proving they learned about expansion as well as burgers at the Arches. I’m still partial to the Bushel & A Peck burger with Granny Smith apple slices, house-made walnut butter, melted Brie cheese and caramelized onions on a roll.

Tom & Eddie's Tried & True Burger

◘ The Works Gourmet Burger Bistro, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (11 open). A Canadian chain? Sure, Canadian now but like Tim Hortons, The Works could one day come on over. Even if it doesn’t, it’s worth keeping an eye on if only because the menu lists 70 or so signature burgers. The $12.78 Peppercorn Broiler, for example, has a crunch black-pepper crust, Gouda cheese and bacon.

◘ Stout Burgers & Beers, Los Angeles (one open). There’s just the one Stout now—in Hollywood—but satellites in Studio City and Santa Monica, Calif., are under construction. Stout also pairs burgers and brews. Go IPA with the $10 Goombah burger (Parmesan flakes, smoked mozzarella, crispy prosciutto and lemon-basil aïoli).

Meatheads

◘ Meatheads Burgers & Fries, Bloomington, Ill.  (six open). A straight-forward concept in the Five Guys mold. Build your own, starting with a half or third-pound Angus patty or chicken breast, or pick one of its “Chef-Inspired Burgers.” The $6 Cajun Sunrise has a fried egg, pepper-Jack cheese, bacon, blue cheese sauce, lettuce, tomato and fresh jalapeños.

Kraze K. Onion Burger

◘ Kraze Burger, Seoul, Korea (one US location open). The Korean burger chain has opened in Bethesda, Md., and plans more in the Washington, D.C., area. The K. Onion Burger is topped with a deep-fried onion ring and cream-cheese sauce. Rockin’.

◘ Toro Burger Bar, El Paso, Texas (three open). Proud to be #4 on Texas Monthly’s list of the state’s best burger joints, Toro serves Angus beef (except for the Angus-chorizo-mix Border Burger) on toasted sesame brioche buns.

◘ Original BUBBA burger Grill, Jacksonville, Fla. (four open). It’s not unusual to see restaurant brands show up in grocery aisles. BUBBA is the opposite: a retail frozen-burger brand that now is opening restaurants that feature its product. A regular BUBBA (100% USDA Choice Chuck beef) is a family-friendly $4.89; specialty BUBBAs are $5.89.

One great thing about burgers is their power to unite the world by showing us that we don’t necessarily understand each other’s cultures very well. Case in point is the latest Big America promotion that began at McDonald’s in Japan this week. It introduces a series of four burgers with thoroughly American names and vaguely American descriptions:

► The promotion kicks off with the double-decker (although only one layer has beef) Grand Canyon Burger. And what says American West better than a cooked egg, mozzarella and Cheddar cheese and steak sauce made with soy and liquid smoke?

► The Las Vegas Burger is touted as “reminiscent of a fine dinner in Las Vegas.” Well, only if you’re dining at McDonald’s. But perhaps the description refers to its “impressive cream cheese sauce” or that, in Sin City’s spirit of excess, the burger patty is topped with sliced beef.

► I rather like the idea of pastrami bacon. It’s on the Broadway Burger along with that indulgent cream-cheese sauce as well as mustard sauce. It all represents the “rich, unique combination of materials” (according to Google Translate) that is the Big Apple.

► The Caesar Salad is usually credited to Caesar Cardini in Tijuana, Mexico, but McDonald’s Japan instead shifts its origins to Tori Spelling’s 90210 for the Beverly Hills Burger, the last of the Big America burgers. Yes, there’s Caesar Salad and a cooked egg atop that burger patty.

McDonald’s Japan hardly is alone in this muddled globalization, of course. The Miami Melt burger in McDonald’s “Great Tastes of America” UK promotion this year had no discernable connection with Miami. And Brits, in turn, howled that the English Pub Burger that McDonald’s tested here last summer had nothing English about it. Just so. It’s what helps make the burger business more fun than world diplomacy.

Burger King calls the McDonald's commercial "degrading."

Viral marketing means never having to say you’re sorry. Ad Age reports that McDonald’s in Germany is not airing a TV commercial that pokes fun at rival Burger King, which protested the ad. However, the commercial (watch it here) is available all over YouTube and has been seen by thousands, netting exposure without expense.

In the spot—created by Tribal DDB and Heye & Partners— a young boy at a park continually has his McDonald’s food swiped by bullies until finally he hides his fries behind a Burger King bag and isn’t hassled. Burger King, however, felt bullied. According to Ad Age, the chain cried that “McDonald’s has broken the rules of comparative advertising by degrading the Burger King brand in the TV commercial ‘Packaging.’” The commercial had not yet been approved by McDonald’s, the magazine reports.

● During today’s quarterly earnings call with analysts, CKE CEO Andy Puzder shed a little more light on the company’s recent decision to part company with ad agency David & Goliath. Puzder said the agency had been hired because initially it seemed to understand what the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s brands were about. The “Anthem” and “Miss Turkey” campaigns were good, he said, but after that the company’s and the agency’s “vision for the brand diverged materially.” That implies that the “Hamblor, God of Hamburgers” campaign for the new Steakhouse burgers was not on his favorites list.

Puzder said CKE’s digital agency 72andSunny was given the account without review because it knows the brands, has people who previously worked on the general account, and will bring back some of the edginess CKE felt was missing from recent advertising.

● Late addition: Here’s one of the McDonald’s “farm-to-fork” commercials that will air in the U.S. in January.

This turned out to be another tough year not just for burger joints but for every restaurant that isn’t named McDonald’s. Consumers may be more easily reached thanks to the rise of social media, but they are no more easily persuaded, as NPD’s recent report of flat customer traffic in 2011 attests. And that helps explain this year’s choices for the year’s most important burgers: 

Dave's Hot 'n Juicy Cheeseburgers

Ξ Burger of the Year: Dave’s Hot ‘n Juicy Cheeseburger. Wendy’s teased us for months about this burger, taking its time test marketing the new thicker, juicier patty before the fall introduction. It was careful because Dave’s Hot ‘n Juicy is a cornerstone of chain management’s efforts to reaffirm its place as a major player in the QSR market.
     Dave’s Hot ‘n Juicy matters to Wendy’s because burgers matter to American diners. Pundits can forecast the end of the burger era, but when restaurants want to reconnect with consumers they do so with burgers. You can lose count of the number of chains that have used improved burgers to signal their quality commitment. Jack in the Box has just reformulated its burgers. Max & Erma’s is using a new burger line to fight back from bankruptcy. In Australia, Hungry’s Jack’s (Burger King) has adopted organic burgers in its market-share battle there with McDonald’s. Burgers continue to be the ultimate American signature dish. That’s what Dave’s Hot ‘n Juicy signifies; that’s why it’s the burger of the year.

Stack'd Burger Bar's Hangover Burger

Ξ Honorable Mention: Charbroiled Turkey Burgers. Hardee’s and Carl’ Jr. took a chance by being the first national QSR burger chain to offer turkey burgers. This year’s high beef costs made the decision a little easier, of course, but they took the leap and it paid off. They made it cool to menu turkey. 

Ξ Burger of the Year (Independent): The Hangover Stack, Stack’d Burger Bar, Milwaukee. This half-pound beauty (at right) hits a lot of hot trends, including this year’s widespread recognition that a fried egg makes a great burger topping. Stack’d buys Wisconsin grass-fed beef (another trend) and calls on local suppliers for toppings where possible (#3). You know the cheese is local. The $12 Hangover’s add-ons include fried onions, thick-cut bacon, aged Cheddar, lettuce and tomato in addition to the fried egg. And diners get their own mini bottle of Tabasco. This burger sits at the intersection of authenticity and quality, which is where you find 2011′s best burgers.

Ξ Burger of the Year (International): 1955 Burger. McDonald’s salute to the year Ray Kroc opened his first restaurant in Des Plaines, Ill., was a hit wherever it was added to the menu this year. First introduced in Germany in 2010, the 1955 Burger worked its away across Europe this year from the UK to Croatia. The company credited this burger with boosting European sales this year. It will be in on McDonald’s U.S. menu eventually, perhaps in 2012.

 Ξ Worst Burger Ideas of the Year. We have a tie between Denny’s Mac ‘n Cheese Big Daddy Patty Melt (some side dishes just need to remain as such), and Burger King’s Meat Monster, a Japan-only creation that piled beef, chicken and pork onto one bun. Loving burgers should never include gluttony. Runner-up is the McItaly Adagio, McDonald’s chef-created burger in Italy that’s topped with puréed eggplant. Just wrong. 

Ξ Burger Book of the Year: George Motz’s “Hamburger America: Completely Revised and Updated Edition: A State-by-State Guide to 150 Burger Joints” (Running Press, 2011). Motz was writing about burgers and burger joints before blogs like this one sprouted like weeds. This new edition updates his 2008 classic. 

Ξ Burger TV Commercial of the Year: “Anthem.” The relationship between Carl’s Jr./Hardee’s and ad agency David & Goliath lasted longer than Kim Kardashian’s marriage, but still couldn’t make it a full year (client and agency broke up this month). It’s too bad because D&G’s first TV work for the chains—declaring “We believe in burgers”—was a classic. “We believe in putting hot models in our commercials because ugly ones don’t sell burgers…We believe in celebrity endorsements so we can hang out with celebrities.” What other marketing program this year was that honest? Or that funny? 

Here’s hoping the burger business will be honest and fun again in 2012.