Product Profile: Burger King

 

INDUSTRY

food

Category

chain restaurants

product Profiled

Burger King restaurants

 

H-Score

 

27

ranked 22nd of 25 within the food industry

ranked 66th of 76 overall

 

product description

 

Burger King is a chain of fast food restaurants, estimated to have over 7,000 outlets across the US.(1) It serves meals throughout the day and evening, offering consistent menus throughout the US. Burger Kings are quick service restaurants that serve hamburgers, chicken and other specialty sandwiches, French fries, soft drinks and other food items.(2)

 

product use

 

Customers can purchase food by ordering at the counter, at a drive-thru window (where available), or via a website or app. Customers can also have Burger King’s food delivered via a delivery service such as DoorDash, Grubhub or Uber Eats. Customers can eat inside the restaurants or take their meals away.

 

who’s affected

 

Burger King’s target market includes the general population. Burger King restaurants can be found in a variety of communities with menu prices accessible to individuals of all household income levels.

 
 

influence on health-related behaviors

 

EATING

strong negative influence

 

Burger King serves fast food, which, broadly speaking, can be unhealthy. Researchers have found 70% of meals served at fast food restaurants (not specific to Burger King) to be of poor nutritional quality.(3)

In Building H’s analysis, Burger King was found to have a modified Restaurant Nutrition Quality (RNQ)(4,5) score of 0.65. Of the 11 chain restaurants in the Index, the range of modified RNQ scores was 1.65 (best) to 0.50 (worst). Burger King’s score placed it 9th highest of the 11 restaurant chains we profiled. In addition, in a 2021 study that calculated the RNQ for over 500 chain restaurants, Burger King’s RNQ placed it in the 37th percentile (higher is better).

In terms of calories, a sample of featured breakfast meal combos averaged 1,132 calories, representing 3.3 times the recommended calories for women at breakfast and 2.5 times the recommended calories for men at breakfast.(6) For their standard menu, featured meal combos averaged 1,473 calories, or 2.6 times the recommended calories for women at lunch, 2.0 times the recommended calories for men at lunch, 2.2 times the recommended calories for women at dinner, and 1.7 times the recommended calories for men at dinner. 

Approximately 10-20% percent of Burger King’s sales take place during the breakfast hours, 35-45% percent during lunch hours and 25-35% percent during dinner hours.(7)

Burger King does not feature or facilitate the choice of its healthier items in its online menus. The most prominent items are those for which Burger King is most well-known, such as burgers and chicken sandwiches. 

Burger King promotes additional consumption through the use of cross-selling in the ordering and checkout processes. Customers are prompted to turn their sandwiches into combos, with the default side being fries and the default drink being full sugar Coca-Cola. Before a customer finishes checking out, Burger King prompts them to add several additional items.(8)

 

opportunities:

  • Feature healthier items more prominently in menu presentation and in recommendations.
  • Highlight healthy modifications or substitutions whenever possible.
  • Set default options of customizable meals to the healthiest options available.
  • Offer reduced portion size options.
  • Enable users to set preferences for calorie limits and/or how healthy they want their diets to be and then tailor their ordering experience and recommendations accordingly.
  • Do not recommend additional items after users pass a reasonable calories per person level.
 
 

PHYSICAL ACTVITY

slight to moderate negative influence

 

One way in which restaurants contribute to physical activity is how people arrive at them. Restaurants in walkable locations are more likely to get customers to walk or bike to them than restaurants located in car-dependent neighborhoods. Building H reviewed a sample of Burger King locations and found that 54% were in either “most walkable” (18%) or “above-average walkable” (36%) neighborhoods. Forty-six (46) percent were in “below-average walkable” neighborhoods, using the US EPA’s National Walkability Index.(9)

An additional factor that affects physical activity is the presence of drive-thru windows, which enable customers to pick up meals without ever leaving their cars. One hundred (100) percent of the Burger King locations Building H reviewed had drive-thru service available.(10)

 

opportunities:

  • Reduce emphasis on drive-thru service.
  • Consider neighborhood walkability and bikeability when selecting new locations.
 
 

Sleeping

neutral to slight negative influence

 

Studies have shown that eating within three hours before bedtime increases the likelihood of sleep disruption.(11)

Burger King locations are typically open until 11:00 pm, although 8% of the locations Building H reviewed were open 24 hours. Based on Google data about a sample of locations, it appears that approximately 10% of Burger King’s activity takes place after 9:00 pm.(12)

Note that late night eating does not necessarily result in eating shortly before bedtime or extending into people’s sleep windows as there is diversity in daily schedules (due to reasons such as shift work).

opportunities:

  • Reduce late night hours.
  • Discourage ordering of caffeinated drinks in the evening.
 
 

Engaging Socially

slight negative influence

 

Eating in a restaurant can be a social experience, especially when one eats with family or friends. It is not clear how many of Burger King’s customers eat in the restaurant in groups or take food out for groups.

A Building H analysis of Google data on a sample of Burger King locations shows that the typical amount of time spent at Burger King is between 10 and 15 minutes,(13) which suggests that most customers are not staying to eat in the restaurant.

Drive-thru service and delivery service would typically involve less social interaction. Building H reviewed a sample of Burger King locations and found that 100% offer drive-thru service. It is not clear what proportion of orders are either delivered or picked up at drive-thru windows. 

Burger King is also installing kiosks for ordering, which also limits interactions between customers and staff.(14)

 

opportunities:

  • Focus on the dine-in experience in order to encourage more customers to eat in the restaurants.
    • Ensure adequate seating for eating in.
    • Add communal tables as seating options.
  • Limit kiosk or app-based automated ordering in order to promote more interaction among staff and customers.
  • Facilitate family style meals for both in-person dining and delivery or take-out orders.
  • Train staff at both counters and drive-thru windows to create moments of connection in their interactions with customers.
  • Offer outdoor seating at more restaurants.
  • Create robust outdoor play areas for families.
 
 

Getting Outdoors

slight negative influence

 

Providing outdoor seating can positively influence the amount of time that customers spend outdoors. Building H reviewed a sample of Burger King locations and found that only 14% offer outdoor seating.

The walkability of restaurant locations can influence the amount of time customers spend outdoors. The more walkable, the more likely it is that customers walk or bike to and from the locations and thus spend time outdoors. As noted above, 54% of Burger King's locations were in either “most walkable” or “above-average walkable” neighborhoods, while 46% were in “below-average walkable” neighborhoods.

The availability of drive-thru service can similarly influence outdoor time by affecting the likelihood of walking or biking. Nearly 100% of Burger King locations have drive-thru service.

 

opportunities:

  • Offer outdoor seating at more restaurants.
  • Create robust outdoor play areas for families.
 
 
 

Notes

 

  1. Based on 2022 data. See Ranking The Top 50 Fast-Food Chains in America. QSR, accessed October 22, 2023.

  2. Restaurant Brands International. 2022 SEC Form 10-K and Annual Report, p. 4.

  3. Junxiu Liu et al. Quality of Meals Consumed by US Adults at Full-Service and Fast-Food Restaurants, 2003–2016: Persistent Low Quality and Widening Disparities. The Journal of Nutrition. Volume 150, Issue 4 (April 2020), pp. 873–883.

  4. Iris Liu et al. A continuous indicator of food environment nutritional quality. MedRxiv. November 26, 2021.

  5. The RNQ is based on the ratio of nutrients recommended by dietary guidelines, e.g. protein and fiber, to ingredients whose consumption should be restricted, such as sugars, sodium and saturated fats, for the median menu item. Building H modified the RNQ by selecting the most featured breakfast and lunch/dinner menu items and weighting them by relative popularity of the breakfast items and items sold at lunch or dinner. (To determine relative popularity of breakfast items and items sold at lunch or dinner, Building H examined data on customer traffic at different times of day for a sample of restaurants.)

  6. Based on a Building H review of the most featured meal combos in September 2023, as compared with federal data on how Americans distribute their calories across meals (see Eliana Zeballos et al. Frequency and Time of Day That AmericansEat: A Comparison of Data From the AmericanTime Use Survey and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. USDA Economic Research Service, Technical Bulletin Number 1954. July 2019) and federal dietary guidelines for moderately active adults (see U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025. December, 2020, p. 140).

  7. Based on a Building H review of Google’s “popular times” data for a sample of 50 randomly selected Burger King locations. July 2023.

  8. Sample online order via bk.com. October 10, 2023.

  9. Based on a random sample of 50 US locations. For the National Walkability Index, see U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. National Walkability Index: Methodology and User Guide. July 2023.

  10. Based on information taken from Burger King’s website for a random sample of 50 US locations. July 2023.

  11. Nicola Chung et al. Does the Proximity of Meals to Bedtime Influence the Sleep of Young Adults? A Cross-Sectional Survey of University Students. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Volume 17, Issue 8 (April 14, 2020), p. 2677.

  12. Based on a Building H review of Google’s “popular times” data for a sample of 50 randomly selected Burger King locations. July 2023.

  13. Based on a Building H review of Google’s data on how much time people typically spend at a location for a random sample of Burger King locations. July 2023.

  14. Grace Dean. There's going to be a lot more touchscreen kiosks at Burger King – and you'll probably end up ordering more, too. Business Insider. November 7, 2023.