Burger buzz is alive and well as burgers continue to dominate restaurant menus across the nation. Food Genius, a technology and services company that delivers big data and insight solutions to the food industry, released its latest Industry Report, Flipping the Burger: Menu Trends and Insights, detailing stats surrounding burgers.

According to Flipping the Burger, not all burgers are created equal. While nearly half of restaurants that menu burgers are fast-casual, quick-service, or family-dining restaurants, Food Genius data proves that independent restaurants are far less likely than chain restaurants to charge a premium for burgers with cheese. 

“Independent operators have an opportunity to get into the premium burger game with some slight tweaks,” says Benjamin Stanley, Food Genius cofounder and vice president of product. “Many chain competitors are increasing their offerings, improving the quality, and charging more for premium accouterments. With burgers occurring on more than three-fourths of menus in some segments, differentiation is a key factor for operators that want to get more out of their burger offering.”

With the growth of the “better burger” movement, Food Genius has some insight on the best ways that foodservice manufacturers and distributors can improve their offerings to provide premium solutions across all segments, without cutting margin. 

Key insights from Food Genius’ Flipping the Burger include:

·       Surprisingly, peppers are mentioned on burgers more often than pickles.

·       More than 50 percent of burger menus mention bacon as a topping option, proving that bacon and burgers go together like peas and carrots.

·       Chain restaurants are one-and-a-half times more likely to include the term “beef” than independent restaurants and twice as likely to include the term “ground beef” as a burger menu descriptor.                 

Flipping the Burger: Menu Trends and Insights highlights data sourced from Q4 ’13 Food Genius Reports, an insights platform and data dashboard tracking 87,159 unique menus across the U.S. The Industry Research Library is an online repository for at-a-glance research reports that stem from the company’s award-winning Food Genius Reports platform.