Burgers rated 100 pct better

The burger behemoths of McDonald’s and Hungry Jack’s have seen off multiple takeaway blow-ins trying to cut their grass.

But, the painful truth is, they’d be wise to start fretting about the impending entry of Wendy’s into the $9 billion Australian market for burgers, nuggets and fries.

Just ask fast-food loving Americans.

“Wendy’s is 100 per cent better than McDonald’s or Burger King,” construction worker Jordan Sullivan said in a branch of the US’s second largest burger chain, located a few blocks from New York City’s iconic Grand Central station.

“I’d go out of my way for Wendy’s,” he said.

But the woes of another US fast food giant in Australia should serve as a warning to Wendy’s – it may not be easy winning over Aussies.

Wendy’s was founded by cook Dave Thomas in Ohio, deep in America’s Midwest heartland, in 1969.

The company is named after his fourth child Melinda Lou “Wendy” Thomas with the logo, a smiling red haired girl, based on her.

Wendy’s now has more than 7000 locations globally and is second only to McDonald’s – although by some margin – in the US. Now it’s hungry to expand in Australia.

Earlier this year, Wendy’s international president Abigail Pringle said the brand had grand plans.

“We think that the Australian market could be hundreds of restaurants,” she told The Australian Financial Review.

“Wendy’s will position as comparable in quality to ‘better burger’ brands, with pricing comparable to traditional fastfood competitors,” she later added to NewsCorp.

Australia’s quick service market is expected to grow 32 per cent over the next five years to $8.7 billion, according to data analysts Euromonitor.

It won’t be a cake walk for Wendy’s to break into the Australian fast food market, dominated as it is by McDonald’s, Hungry Jack’s, Dominos and KFC and with strong second rung players like Oportos and Red Rooster.

Look no further than Australia’s KFC franchisee Collins Foods which brought US powerhouse brand Taco Bell to these shores.

But Collins Foods said late last year that following a sales drop at Taco Bell in Australia it was halting the rollout – indeed its closed several relatively new stores – “to ensure the longterm strength of the brand and to generate the required return on investment”.

So far, there are only about 20 Taco Bells in the country compared to 700 of its sister brand KFC.