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ASSIGNMENT:
Burger King local adaptation in Belgium
DUE DATE: 11TH February 2018
NAME: Joyce Nyambura Mwangi MANAHL
LECTURER: Prof Dr. Frank BILLINSLEY
COURSE: Business Research Methods
MBA Program
2
INTRODUCTION
Previously Burger King had tried to penetrate the European market without much suc-
cess. This was due to high competition from Quick fast food and McDonalds, which led to
the closure of the Paris, France, branch in 1977 (New York Post, June 1st, 2017). Burger King
had to be more innovative than it at that time. They have, however, made a great come back
and managed to buy Quick chain restaurants in France, Luxembourg and Belgium. Over the
last year they have opened up a few Burger King branches in Belgium’s cities Antwerp and
Brussels.
Burger King’s first Belgian store has opened its doors in a former Quick location,
next to the movie theater Kinepolis Antwerp. It is still managed by the old Quick franchisee.
“The movie theater location is an opportunity for us with a grand location and a drive-in”,
Burger Brands Belgium’s CEO, Kevin Derycke, said. His company owns the Belgian license
for Burger King and Quick.
The second location opened shortly after in Charleroi’s Rive Gauche shopping cen-
ter, and the third will be in Namur’s train station. These latter two are brand-new locations
and will not replace a Quick restaurant. ‘Burger Brands Belgium wants to expand to 140 –
150 (retaildetail.eu, June 28th, 2017) over the next five to six years, spread across Burger
King and Quick. That would be a remarkable feat (nearly + 50 %; retail.eu June 28th, 2017) in
a market that only grows 1 % every year (retail.eu, June 28th, 2017). It counts on its current
franchisees to achieve that growth’. With such great growth will it adapt to the local market’s
demands and manage to keep up with its competitor McDonalds ?
There is a visible food cultural difference between Europe and America. Europeans
tend to eat more varied and balanced diets foods in small portions while Americans stick to
large portions with a lot of soft drinks. Europeans prefer wine and beer to soft drinks with
their meals, and in Belgium, people are proud of their famous Belgian beers.
3
DISCUSSION
Burger King is known worldwide for its burgers which mainly consist of beef, pork and
chicken (BURGER KING® Corporation). The Muslim population of Belgium is expected to
reach 700,000 in 2016, or around 6.2% of the overall population, according to figures extrap-
olated from a recent study by the Pew Research Center (The Economist, Oct 15th 2017). In
percentage terms, Belgium has one of the highest Muslim populations in Western Europe. In
metropolitan Brussels, where roughly half of Belgium's Muslims currently live, the Muslim
population has reached 300,000 or about 25% (The Economist, Oct. 15th 2017). This makes
Brussels one of the most Islamic cities in Europe.
The high proportion of the population of Muslims in the city will limit the consump-
tion of pork. Burger King will miss out on this huge market if they do not adapt their menu to
fit this specific niche. They should introduce more beef and vegetarian meals and advertise
their meals are ‘Halal’. This will for sure attract the Muslim population and increase their
revenue.
Statistics should be done on consumption patterns in their market at the very begin-
ning to know what clientele they have. Market research needs to be undertaken or it would
negatively affect the product launch of the brand, in particular if it hurts the beliefs of a sig-
nificant part the target market.
Understanding the local food market of a country like Belgium is important since it
will help to avoid making expensive mistakes. Burger King learnt this the hard way after they
decided to launch a campaign titled ‘who is King’, the challenge being between King Phil-
lippe, the current reigning King of Belgium, versus the restaurant Burger King. The mon-
arch’s representative said the King was not amused and that the King’s image cannot be used
for commerce without permission. The Burger King spokesperson finally said the company
had pulled down the advertisement, but this only happened after the company’s image was
being questioned and their relationship with the royal family had been tested. This could have
been avoided if the marketing department had done enough research on the rights and impact
of using the monarch’s image for commercial purposes. The Burger King website now just
features the company’s logo with the word “King” removed, adding in French, “There is no
place for two Kings in Belgium.”
Brussels suburbs and Belgian towns are family friendly neighborhoods (BBC Travel
September 11th, 2013). Burger King should therefore adapt their restaurants to fit this criteria
by introducing family package meals, children’s meals and children’s playgrounds. This will
encourage the parents to stay longer and spend more without being worried about their chil-
dren getting bored.
