Wing Zone bets on improved burgersWing Zone bets on improved burgers

Wing Zone has made a push for its burgers. Image: Wing Zone

Wing Zone, a takeout and delivery chain based in Atlanta, is betting on burgers as a new driver of sales growth by adding “burgers” to its logo and upgrading its burgers in a move to improve lunch sales.

“Typically 70 percent of revenue [at Wing Zone] is after 4 p.m.,” said Matt Friedman, co-founder and CEO of the 125-unit chain. “Although we have amazing wings, it’s not the most popular item to have for lunch.”

The 23-year-old chain added burgers to the menu about five years ago.

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“It was kind of an extra item that we threw on the menu and didn’t put a ton of emphasis on,” Friedman said.

But Wing Zone has since upgraded to higher quality cheese, switched from a standard sesame-seed bun to a brioche bun, and this month upgraded its burgers to hold better for delivery.        

The new burgers use Cargill TNT patties that are made with black Angus beef and, Friedman said, a small amount of breadcrumbs that help the patties retain moisture.

“We understand the customer typically does not eat our product for 15 to 20 minutes after it’s cooked,” Friedman said. 

In addition to the moisture-holding patties, the burgers are delivered on toasted buns with cold items such as lettuce, tomato and onion packaged separately.

Additionally, the chain’s fries are crinkle-cut wedge fries that Friedman said could handle holding times of 20 to 30 minutes.

“Obviously there’s a lot of people who have expanded into the burger segment, but I think Wing Zone has got a unique point of what we’re trying to accomplish here,” by targeting delivery, Friedman said.

He said he hoped the upgrade and marketing behind it would help improve burger sales, which are currently around 8 percent of revenue.

“But this is a strategic play for us to really increase that, and we believe that over the course of the six to 18 months we could see burger sales reach 20 percent of our revenue,” Friedman said.

That play includes a rebranding effort, begun in the fourth quarter last year, that includes a new tagline under the logo: “Wings. Burgers. Flavor.”

It also includes devoting one of two in-store digital menu panels to burgers over the next 90 days, digital marketing to loyalty program members, and promotional tie-ins with Pepsi — it switched from Coca-Cola in February — including free drinks with burger purchases and other cross-promotional activity.

“Pepsi’s core customer is our core customer,” Friedman said about the switch in beverage suppliers.

Wing Zone’s core customers are post-college, early family members between the ages of 20 and 30 — “people that are willing to pay for great food in a convenient format,” he said.

The burgers are intended to be priced between those of quick-service chains and more upscale “better burger” concepts — a Wing Zone quarter-pound burger with a side is priced at around $6.49, Friedman said.

Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected]
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