In January, RBI CEO Josh Kobza had the opportunity to meet Burger King franchisees Tim Foley and John Kaufman, who acquired 20 North Carolina-based restaurants in 2021 from an underperforming operator.
Since then, their company EYAS Capital has transformed the portfolio and improved the restaurants’ franchise success score from a “D” to an “A.” They delivered a more than 30 percent increase in average restaurant sales and more than doubled four-wall EBITDA to $325,000 per store on average. Foley and Kaufman recently purchased 30 more restaurants from another underperforming franchisee in the Carolinas region.
To Kobza, the duo is proof of Burger King’s potential when driven by the right operators. Their success reinforces the company’s ongoing strategy to remove disengaged franchisees from its system in favor of “dedicated operators who share our vision for brand excellence.”
The burger giant appears to be turning a corner. The chain outperformed major burger QSR peers in Q4 with a 1.5 percent rise in same-store sales, lapping a 6.4 percent increase in Q4 2023. Comps rose 1.2 percent for full-year 2024, lapping a 7.5 percent increase.
Kobza owed the success to Burger King following the “Reclaim the Flame” multi-year turnaround plan and providing customers with menu innovation, value offerings, and improved experiences. Some examples in Q4 include the Addams Family menu featuring the Wednesday Whopper and the Million Dollar Whopper campaign consisting of three unique Whoppers created by fans across the country.
Kobza said the 2025 calendar will continue to focus on families, the Whopper as a premium product, and attractive value platforms like the $5 Duo and $7 Trio. Burger King also hopes to maintain quality across the menu through working with suppliers on upgraded recipes and improving employee training and restaurant equipment.
“More of our restaurants are owned by stronger franchisees now who are simply better at running their stores, and we’re seeing that play through both in the top-line and the bottom-line for those restaurant owners. There remains a lot that can be done there,” Kobza said.
In 2024, Burger King U.S. earned $205,000 in average profitability per store, essentially flat compared to 2023. However, “A” operators achieved average profitability of more than $275,000—35 percent higher than the system average.
“This is one of the most compelling metrics we can share with our franchisees as it demonstrates the direct impact of operational excellence on running a healthy and growing business,” Kobza said during RBI’s Q4 earnings call.
Burger King previously announced a goal of eclipsing $230,000 in average profitability by the end of 2026 and a longer-term goal of reaching $300,000. One of the clearest paths to get there is restaurant remodels, according to RBI executive chairman Patrick Doyle. He said some renovated stores are already approaching that $300,000 figure.
“In addition to the marketing calendar and the operational improvements, we’ve got to get to a modern image,” Doyle said.
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The chain has opened 80 Sizzle prototypes, a new design with a modernized décor, kiosks, in-store mobile order and pickup, and mobile order and pickup at the drive-thru. Overall, the brand completed 370 remodels last year, bringing the system to 51 percent modern image. About 220 have been open for more than six months, and they are averaging a mid-teens sales uplift in year one. The plan is to remodel around 400 stores in 2025 to keep pace with the goal of 85 to 90 percent modern image by 2028.
The work of Foley and Kaufman speaks to what Burger King hopes to accomplish in the next several years. In 2024, the brand spent $1 billion to acquire its largest franchisee Carrols Restaurant Group to accelerate hundreds of remodels and refranchise stores over the next five years.
The chain announced Wednesday that it initiated work to start selling locations in 2025, two years ahead of schedule. It expects to further accelerate efforts in 2026. Burger King’s new preference is for operators to have no more than 50 units; the chain currently has 300 franchisees, but that is expected to move to roughly 400–500 in the next few years.
“It’s clear that the team’s efforts to clean up our franchisee and restaurant base is paying off,” Kobza said. “And I believe most of our troubled situations are behind us. Now we’re excited about the operational improvements and modernization efforts underway, and we feel good about the direction of our marketing plans. I’m looking forward to seeing more modern image Burger Kings thrive under strong operators.”
Burger King has invested more than $2 billion in its turnaround efforts. That breaks out to $400 million from the “Reclaim the Flame” turnaround plan announced in September 2022, the $1 billion acquisition of Carrols, a $500 million remodel commitment for those Carrols stores, and an additional $300 million co-investment in remodels.
The brand finished 2024 with 6,701 stores in the U.S., a drop of 77 units compared to 2023.
