How do you like your burger? Medium rare? As a slider? Extra bacon? However you like it, there's a burger out there for you. Do you like your burgers with avocado? You aren't alone. According to Food Genius' latest Industry Report: Flipping the Burger, the burger + avocado combo appears on 8 percent of menus across the US.
And what about the bun? The competition for the best bun is fierce! Thanks in part to the explosion of Wendy's Pretzel Bacon Burger, the pretzel bun has become almost as popular as the burger itself. And in an effort to outdo itself, Wendy's released the Ciabatta Bacon Cheeseburger to much fanfare. But is its fame threatened by the impending ramen burger which has already delighted taste buds in New York City?
The healthy lifestyle trend has also affected the burger industry. According to Food Genius Reports, mentions of "grass-fed" burgers are on the rise since last quarter and operators are charging a hefty $3.76 above the average price of a burger for a grass-fed burger.
While nearly half of restaurants that menu burgers are fast casual, quick casual or family dining restaurants, Food Genius data proves that independent restaurants are far less likely than chain restaurants to charge a premium for burgers with cheese.
"Independent operators have an opportunity to get into the premium burger game with some slight tweaks,” states Justin Massa, Food Genius Founder and CEO. “Many chain competitors are increasing their offerings, improving the quality, and charging more for premium accouterments. With burgers occurring on more than three-fourths of menus in some segments, differentiation is a key factor for operators that want to get more out of their burger offering.”
With the growth of the "better burger" movement, Food Genius has some insight on the best ways can improve their offerings to provide premium solutions across all segments, without cutting margin.
Key insights from Food Genius’ Flipping the Burger:
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Surprisingly, peppers are mentioned on burgers more often than pickles.
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More than 50 percent of burger menus mention bacon as a topping option, proving that bacon and burgers go together like peas and carrots.
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Chain restaurants are 1.5x more likely to include the term “beef” than independent restaurants and twice as likely to include the term “ground beef” as a burger menu descriptor.
Flipping the Burger: Menu Trends and Insights highlights data sourced from Q4’13 Food Genius Reports, an insights platform and data dashboard currently tracking 87,159 unique menus across the United States.
About Food Genius
Chicago-based Food Genius is a technology and services company with a mission to deliver big data and insight solutions to the food industry. Currently tracking 50,676,146 menu items from 87,159 unique menus at 350,763 restaurant locations. Food Genius leverages modern web technologies and custom tools to generate high quality, granular data and insights for an array of commercial uses. Food Genius is able to provide a robust industry trend analysis, putting insights generated from big data at client’s fingertips. Its Industry Research Library is an online repository for at-a-glance research reports that stem from the company’s Food Genius Reports platform.
