Slower lease market adds sauce to BurgerFuel Plans

Media Release (photo attached) 9 July 2008

Slower leasing market adds sauce to BurgerFuel’s plans

Times might be tough but they do mean better business opportunities for companies in an expansion frame of mind. BurgerFuel founder Chris Mason says the present environment is making it an ideal time to find top locations for new stores.

“We are currently looking at sites in places like Pukekohe, the Airport, St Lukes, Mission Bay, Windsor Park and Whangarei that we think are ideal for new BurgerFuel franchisees to start from. We’re also checking out additional sites in Wellington, like Lower Hutt and Newtown, Mason says.

Mason and his team have opened eight new stores in the past year with another coming soon to Johnsonville, Wellington. With Taupo opening recently the company has a total of 25 stores in New Zealand and two in Sydney, Australia. BurgerFuel opens in Dubai later this year, the first outside Australasia.

Finding the perfect site for a new store is one thing, getting the right people to pick up the franchise is another?

“Running a BurgerFuel store is hard work but it’s exciting and very fulfilling. We’re taking on the big boys by combining our gourmet product with our distinctive and irreverent branding and marketing,” says Mason.

“We do things differently, but the important thing is that we back that up with solid systems that work extremely well. That’s why we’re attractive to prospective franchisees.

“In our business you are only as good as your next burger and people increasingly want to know what it is they are eating, that its ingredients are fresh and that they know where ingredients are sourced from.”

Mason says franchisees need no food industry background, but they do need to be energetic and hard-working.

“The opportunities are significant for good operators. Several franchisees now operate more than one store such as our Henderson franchisee who is now looking to open at Westgate (West Auckland). One day a franchisee could be running a store in Dubai or another region of the world BurgerFuel is looking at entering,” he says.

It costs around $300-350,000 to construct a BurgerFuel restaurant in New Zealand and funding of up to 40 percent is available through the company’s preferred bank.

Mason says for people who take up the challenge, there is something of a baptism by fire. The induction includes an eight-week stint in the company’s Ponsonby kitchens learning all about what makes a gourmet burger from the bun up.

Mason opened the first BurgerFuel store 13 years ago in Ponsonby Rd, Auckland.

Investors can contact Chris Mason or seek further information at: www.burgerfuel.com

ENDS

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