Burger King introduces bacon at select SA restaurants

©Pisit Khambubpha via 123RF

“Bacon is a big part of the global Burger King heritage and a large portion of our South African guests have requested that we add it to our menu," says Juan Klopper, chief operating officer at Burger King SA.

"Of course, this is not something we could simply ‘switch on’. Before launching the product, we conducted in-depth studies with globally accredited market-research agency, Kantar TNS. They assisted us in terms of measuring consumer demand, and the areas to consider introducing a non-halaal product," he adds.

As of 1 September, the following Burger King restaurants: Allen's Neck, Blue Route, Brackenfell, Cape Gate DT, Flora Centre, Goldfields, Green Market Square, Hatfield, Jean Ave, Klerksdorp DT, Kolonnade Retail, Lambton, Lynnwood Lane, Mall @ Carnival, Meyersdal, Mooi River, N2 Strand, New Market, Northmead, Preller Square, Regina Mundi, Rembrandt Mall, Riverside Mall, Sanctuary, Sandown Road, Sanridge, Sasolburg, Sasol Olivedale, Sasol Riley Road, River Crescent Mall, Secunda, Table Bay, Tambotie Mall, Three Rivers, Tygervalley, Vanderbijlpark, Westgate, Wilgehuewal, Willow Road, Wonderpark and Zevenwacht DT.

In addition to bacon, guests have also been requesting more menu items catering to those who follow a vegan and vegetarian lifestyle. As such, the restaurant chain plans to expand its vegetarian and plant-based options in the near future.

Halaal certification

Burger King will continue to serve halaal-certified food at 52 restaurants in the country.

When the restaurant chain opened its doors in South Africa in May 2013 it was halaal certified, and since then has only offered 100% pure halaal beef patties on the menu and steered clear of non-halaal products.

“We have received ongoing support from halaal communities since opening our doors. As a brand that champions inclusivity, it’s extremely important that everyone feels welcome in our restaurant,” says Klopper.

“When we launched locally, we worked closely with Shura (Majlisush Shura Al-Islami) to ensure our restaurants and distribution centres have strict measures in place to meet and maintain our halaal-certified status. Our relationship with Shura is ongoing and when we received more requests from guests to introduce a non-halaal product to the menu, we consulted with them to ascertain if this should be considered.

“Working with Shura, and using data and insight from our in-house GIS Retail Market Analyst to ensure that Burger King restaurants in areas with a large Muslim community remain halaal, the decision was made to add bacon in other areas,” he explains.

The brand has also relooked at the names of three global products on the menu and has removed the reference to ‘ham’ in the name for these products to be more respectful of its halaal client base, renaming them ‘burgers’.

Shaheed Bardien, administrator at Shura says, “We value and appreciate the efforts from the Burger King team to ensure Shura was included in this undertaking and that they have shown continuous commitment to the halaal community.”

Supply chain considerations

In collaboration with Shura, Burger King SA’s logistics and distribution centres are also geared to continue providing halaal-certified products and ensuring they are delivered to restaurants in a manner that does not compromise this status.

“Halaal Monitors will continue to track and measure our internal systems and suppliers. In an unlikely event that any product at any time is found questionable, those products are removed from the system and sent to waste - no questions asked - and this will continue at all points of our business,” adds Klopper.