Ok, as much as I hate to do it – what would a current events blog covering the QSR industry be if it didn’t include at least one post regarding the new and somewhat controversial topic of Burger King home delivery? Seriously? We can now order a Whopper meal and have it delivered right to our doorsteps for a nominal up charge and to top that off – it actually may arrive looking like it is supposed to? You may be asking yourself, what kind of fantasy world does this guy live in? No fantasy here – BK delivery is bursting out of roughly ten locations in Maryland and Virginia already, and if these test markets prove to be successful you can bet you’ll be seeing the burger giant driving down your block someday.
While the idea of enabling more Americans to pursue a lifestyle far less than healthy may seem to be against many of our proclaimed values…..it is, but the sheer novelty of this idea is enough to beg some attention. Fast food delivery service is actually quite popular in many other parts of the world, yet for some reason, it has been slow to take off in America leaving Pizza and the occasional Chinese-food place to rule the quick-serve to your door market.
Personally, I think that the packaging materials and techniques should really be the star of the show. Think about how your food looks and tastes if you purchase it from a drive thru and then for a vain attempt to keep your car clean you wait the 10-15 minutes until you get home to feast……..um, yeah, it drops that food to a whole new level, right? Well not with this delivery service! They have engineered special packaging to separate certain components of the burger to avoid them getting soggy – really ingenious packaging with ‘secret compartments’ for the lettuce, tomato, and top bun! On top of spiffy packaging, rumor has it that the King has also invested a healthy chunk of change into some pretty scientific heated bags very similar to what a certain pizza giant named after a classic table game uses! I live in Metro Detroit, so I don’t have the luxury quite yet of trying out this service to see if I can bust the hype but I set off into the great wide web to find someone who has.
Michael S. Rosenwald wrote a great piece for The Washington Post last week reviewing (I believe though a personal taste test) this new QSR phenomenon. According to Rosenwald, the meal actually arrived in quite a tasty and appealing condition; he was kind enough to snap a photo of the spread:
Look at the trap door for the top half! Ingenious! What will they think of next? Maybe a pack of antacid tablets for desert? As long as the creepy post-Mascot man doesn’t show up on my doorstep ever, I may just give this a try once they spread out to my area. To check it out for yourself, go to their online ordering site and see if your area is serviced yet. Leave a comment below – let us know what you think about Burger King and their delivery service.
