The learnings from the "All-whopping" Burger King Sri Lanka

For the food, especially for Burger lovers, this has been the most amazing news besides all the somewhat great dining deals that are offered by Pubs, star-graded establishments, restaurants, tea lounges to coffee shops and other fast food joints, during this Christmas season. 

Burger King; which was teasing the Sri Lankans' taste buds for a pretty long time with their announcements of opening its Sri Lankan Franchise was made possible via Softlogic Holdings PLC's new business unit which was set up as 'Softlogic Restaurants (Pvt) Ltd'. The official announcement was released in September 2, 2013, highlighting Softlogic Restaurants (Pvt) Ltd as the master franchisee, which entered into a Master Franchise and Development Agreement with BK AsiaPac Pte Ltd - a subsidiary of Burger King Worldwide, Inc (NYSE: BKW), and the master franchisor for the Burger King® System in the Asia Pacific Region.

Accordingly,  Softlogic Restaurants (Pvt) Ltd would be developing, operating and establishing direct-owned Burger King restaurants in Sri Lanka, with the support from BK to provide the Burger King marks and Burger King® System, services and operational support. 

Softlogic Restaurants (Pvt) Ltd has already announced to open three restaurants in Mount Lavinia (Near Family Super / Cassarolle building), Rajagiriya (Near Barista) and Colpetty (Old Dankotuwa Building). As a preliminary move, the Mount Lavinia restaurant had a soft opening on December 24 and was operating as a 'test-run', well in advance to the official opening date of all three restaurants on December 28, 2013 (which is today - Saturday). 

With all the operational support, strong brand, marketing, reputational and financial backing of one of country's strongest conglomerates, Softlogic Restaurants (Pvt) Ltd would need to keep up with the unique taste and value proposition, Burger King offers around the world. Carrying a brand promise of "offering freshly prepared Grilled food with great flavor!" since 1954, Burger King® restaurants remains as the second largest fast food hamburger chain in the world. Burger King® is regarded worldwide as the "The original HOME OF THE WHOPPER®". Having marketing and branding brilliance embedded in statements that are accepted and proven around the world, Softlogic Restaurants (Pvt) Ltd, would continue to offer premium ingredients, signature recipes, and family-friendly dining experiences which have defined the global brand for over 50 years, via Burger King Sri Lanka. 

So far, the most commendable operation with relate to communications has been the careful management of its SM operations, especially the balooning Facebook page. Since Nov 28, 2013 it has a following of over 18K fans and has already started a number of competitions creating engagement and interaction with the possible cluster of 'innovators' in the target demographics. According to news off the record from its SM team, over 90% of the inquiries are about the operation and food are being HALAAL certified. 

Burger King - Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka (Courtesy: Foursquare/Farhan B.)

The test-run via the Mount Lavinia would give interesting insights into the Burger King Sri Lanka operation. Is it unfortunate to mention Burger King Sri Lanka is on the verge of converting itself into a possible successor of an almost lost TGI Friday's? Although its too early to comment on the overall service perception & experience against the delivery, Burger King Sri Lanka is battered for offering insanely small portion sizes. The 'innovators' have started questioning "THE KING STATUS" of the Burger King Sri Lanka operation as they continue to offer the thinnest patties, tiniest buns, while the signature whoppers turning out to be a disaster. The unhappy consumers, in essence are currently positioning Burger King Sri Lanka operation as "The food is nothing like the picture, no juicy, no grilled taste, nothing...- NOT WORTH THE HYPE!". 

As at present, Cargills who has been awarded the franchisee status of TGI Friday's is being questioned for maintaining and uplifting the basic service levels in matching with its global status. It's about time, Softlogic Restaurants (Pvt) Ltd re-look at the overall operation of Burger King Sri Lanka and seriously put some tangible restructuring in place. 

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