Local burger market has the lot

THE burger business in Western Australia is backing itself amid an influx of interest from international players eager to grab a bite of Australia’s $9 billion sector.

That number, found in a 2021 report by IBISWorld, has piqued the attention of American fast food chain Wendy's, famous for its square-shaped patties, which is planning to roll out restaurants in Australia, according to recent media reports.

Another American chain, Wahlburgers, owned by actors Mark and Donnie Wahlberg, is reportedly considering a Rockingham location.

As international chains set their sights on WA, local operators in the burger industry have seen a shift away from fast-food chains in the past decade.

The Perth market enjoyed a boom in artisanal burger joints from 2014 to 2016, with the launch of Varsity, Hoodburger, RoyAl’s Chicken and Burgers, Meet & Bun, and Short Order.

RoyAl’s co-founder Al Craigie said there was a gap in the market for boutique burger joints at the time he opened the East Victoria Park restaurant in 2016.

“Over the years, there’s definitely been a lot more similar businesses coming into competition,” Mr Craigie told Business News.

“People might be spending less [and the] cost of living might be going up.

“So that’s when you have to stay competitive in this space, because there are a lot of other burger operators out there and they’re good ones as well.”

Hoodburger is looking to expand to more locations. Photo: Nadia Budihardjo

Meet & Bun owner Johnny Pavlos echoed Mr Craigie’s comments, saying consumers had become better educated on burgers.

“There weren’t as many [burger joints] when we started, there’s been a huge transformation of the scene in the last decade,” Mr Pavlos said.

“When we opened, we’d get compared to McDonald’s. Now everyone knows about gourmet burgers. These things are more expensive, like hand-cut chips and using local items.”

Meet & Bun has grown from a pop-up in 2015 to establishing a spot at the Trinity Arcade food court and a restaurant in Mt Lawley.

Despite closing down the Trinity Arcade joint earlier this year, the business is setting up to open in Hillarys in the coming months.

“Players who established themselves five to 10 years ago will be around,” Mr Pavlos said.

“There’s going to be so much growth it might be flooded, but that just weeds out the lacklustre players.”

Hoodburger owner Tom Shaw said the sector had grown since he launched his business.

“There’s been a few trends that have gone and stayed, and if the initial hype seems to have died down, this is a staple food and people are still happy to have access to quality offerings,” he said.

“The quality of the local businesses is high and there’s been amazing community awareness in supporting local businesses through COVID.

“There’s obviously opportunity here attracting the interest of international chains, but they have strong competition from local operators.”

Mr Shaw said business had been volatile in recent years, but Hoodburger hoped to offer more locations in addition to the existing restaurants in Northbridge, Inglewood and Ardross.

Some Perth businesses had years of success before closing their doors, including Fast Eddys, which closed in 2019 after 41 years, and Jus Burgers, which was sold and rebranded as Upperhand Burgers this year.

Mr Craigie’s brother and RoyAl’s co-founder, Ken, said restaurants would have to ride out the tough times, which currently included cost-of-living and inflationary pressures.

“I would say it will get tougher in the short term, not as a result of competition but as a result of other economic factors,” Ken Craigie said.

“Right now, we’re already seeing that trend. It’s happened a little bit earlier than we anticipated.

“I think there’s still a good 12 months of people reducing their luxury spend, and we fall into that category of luxury spend.”

Betty's Burgers opened its first WA restaurant at Forrest Chase. Photo: Nadia Budihardjo

However, he said there would always be a place for burgers.

“Perth people find the burger scene fun. They all have their personal favourite,” Ken Craigie said.

“They get a little bit cutthroat about defending their personal favourite that it can get a little bit testing and childish on social media at times … but that’s kind of part of the fun.”

He said some smaller players might struggle in a sector that traditionally operated on tight margins.

“It’s not good money in the burger game, it’s really quite tough. There are very low margins and you’re playing with high volume to get those margins,” Ken Craigie said.

The Craigies said they were on the lookout to expand RoyAl’s again but had been focusing on stabilising the existing restaurants in the past year, with locations in Northbridge, Wembley and an upgraded Victoria Park outlet.

Among other long-established local operators is Alfred’s Kitchen, which has been operating from its Guildford premises since 1946, with no reports of plans to expand.

More recent arrivals include Noosa-based chain Betty’s Burgers.

The first Betty’s Burgers restaurant in the state opened in Forrest Chase in 2021.

Betty’s Burgers managing director Troy McDonagh told Business News the business would make WA a priority for the next year.

“It’s a real focus for us as a business to really expand further into WA,” Mr McDonagh said.

“Western Australians love eating out and love good food, and I feel like we’re an affordable offer.

“When you work in a business like this and you’re looking at an opportunity like WA, you need to commit.

“This year is all about taking Betty’s wider into WA, so we’re not looking at other states … 2023 and probably 2024 is really about spending a lot of time, effort and energy and investment into WA.”

Betty’s Burgers has set its eyes on a vacant Fremantle shop on South Terrace, formerly the Meating Ground, and expects the restaurant to open by the end of this financial year.

Mr McDonagh said there was potential for the business to have 25 venues in WA, with plans to open five more restaurants this year, including one at a Perth beach and two shopping centre tenancies.

A Grill'd restaurant opened in William Street in December. Photo: Grill'd

WA has also been a point of interest for Melbourne-based burger chain Grill’d, which recently opened restaurants in Currambine and along William Street in the CBD.

Grill’d chief executive Adam Stapleton said the chain had plans for more stores in WA, particularly at A-grade and premium locations.

“We are seeing continued strong demand for our deliciously healthy burgers in WA; it’s consistently one of the top-performing states across the country, giving us confidence for our future growth plans,” Mr Stapleton told Business News.

“Most recently, we have seen really positive uptake in WA of our world-first low-carbon sustainable ‘Gamechanger’ burger.

“The best results in the country have come from WA restaurants, providing us with another proof point that our guests in the state continue to love what we stand for: tasty burgers that are good for you, the planet and our communities.”

Mr Stapleton said the casual dining space continued to be buoyant, with consumers trading down from premium dining but seeking a step up from fast food.

“While we’ve seen more ‘American-style’ burgers popping up, they tend to have more limited occasions given their more indulgent profile,” he said.

The mix of international, national and local names in the burger game doesn’t faze Mr McDonagh, who said there was enough business for everyone.

“We celebrate great food and great dining experiences so we’re not in there to take anyone’s spot,” he said.

“We just we feel there’s a place for everyone.

“If Forrest Chase is anything to go by, we think there are opportunities for us all to be happy and harmonious together.”