Beefed-up burger wars

Photo / Chris Skelton

Tired of listening to hungry customers beefing about their flat, flavourless burgers, the fastfood chains have opened a new front in the battle of the bulge. It is taste.

They have given up trying to win over customers with green salads and health claims. Instead, they are facing off with new gourmet burgers in an attempt to win over beef-loving customers on the criterion of quality.

Burger Fuel has come out with a limited edition Wagyu beef burger, advertising it as: "The best beef in the world."

Wagyu meat - meaning "Japan beef" - can sell for hundreds of dollars at restaurants, but a one-third pound pattie with all the trimmings costs just $12.90 at the popular chain because it comes from Australian-reared cattle.

At restaurants like Ponsonby's Jervois Steak House, a wagyu steak sells for 50 cents per gram, with a 200g steak being the minimum order. In London, the exclusive meat has been sold at department store Harrods for about $236 per kilogram.

Burger Fuel CEO Josef Roberts said it was able to sell the "100 per cent wagyu" meat much cheaper because it had a deal with Australian suppliers for a limited time.

Advertisements for the special burger say it is "massaged daily by Kobe geisha girls, serenaded by classical music and hand-fed beer when life gets a little too hard".

But one industry insider, who wished to remain anonymous, said Burger Fuel was being "a little bit naughty".

"Their advertisements imply they are massaged and all that, and that definitely happens in Japan but I'm not sure they could confirm that is done to the meat they get," he said. "It's a little bit of a creative licence I suppose."

Roberts said there was some "puffery" in the advertising but Burger Fuel was relying on the reputation of the wagyu brand, which was known for its odd farming practices.

"Obviously you've got to assume there's some puffery in the whole concept. I'm pretty sure the massaging goes on but as far as the classical music - I don't think so," he said. "It's all just a bit tongue-in-cheek.

"I don't know the grade of the beef but it is 100 per cent wagyu. It's something different and it's going very well for us."

Fuelling the burger wars, McDonald's hit back with its own line of gourmet patties, launching two "fancy" Angus beef burgers using locally sourced meat.

But they cannot legally be sold as 100 per cent Angus meat because the cattle used to produce the meat is crossbred.

"In New Zealand there is no regulation regarding what constitutes Angus beef," said McDonald's communications manager Kate Porter.

"Any Angus eaten or purchased in New Zealand and Australia is certified in the same way, but yes, I would assume many New Zealand consumers wouldn't be aware of how Angus cattle are bred or how the lineage works."

Burger Wisconsin has been producing gourmet burgers for 20 years, yet has also upped the ante by reprising its 1989 Pestarella burger.

Steve Hannah, co-franchiser, said its beef was all grass-fed, certified and traceable to farms across New Zealand.

"People are jumping on to the gourmet burger train everywhere, but we have been doing it for years," said Hannah.

Gourmet test finds the best

Once Gourmet burgers were gourmet.

Now they've become standard fare.

So the Herald on Sunday put them to the blind taste test, enlisting five burger lovers to compare the gourmet burgers to other, standard chain burgers.

Burger Fuel's Wagyu burger, Burger Wisconsin's Pestarella and the Grand Angus from McDonald's took on Wendy's Big Classic, Burger King's Whopper and McDonald's Big Mac.

All participants were blindfolded and asked to rate each burger out of 10 for how much beef they could taste, how juicy the pattie was and the overall fresh taste of the burger.

Each was then given an overall rating out of 30.

Burger Fuel came out an easy winner, scoring 23 out of 30, with Burger Wisconsin and McDonald's Grand Angus close behind with a score of 19.

Burger King's Whopper rated 16, one point up from the Big Mac at 15. In last place was Wendy's Big Classic, scoring 10 out of 30.

Automation engineer Lee Dewerson, 36, said the Wagyu burger was "very, very fresh" and it had a very full flavour.

The Grand Angus in joint second place had "lots of beef but not that much flavour," according to 24-year-old communications executive Alex Spence.

All participants were impressed by the flavour and freshness of the Pestarella.

Burger Fuel came out an easy winner, scoring a high 23 out of 30, with Burger Wisconsin and McDonald's Grand Angus close behind with a score of 19.

Burger King's Whopper rated a mid-range 16, one point up from the Big Mac at 15. In last place was Wendy's Big Classic, with 10 out of 30.

The Wendy's burger scored mainly twos and threes for the beef taste and juiciness, with many participants saying "there's hardly any beef in it".

Wendy's chief executive Danielle Lendich was "surprised" by the results because their research shows they have had New Zealand's best-tasting burgers since 1998.