It’s no secret that Burger King has been a turnaround story for years now.
The fast-food chain has earmarked over $2 billion toward its Reclaim the Flame strategy, which involves remodels, advertising, equipment and tech upgrades, digital enhancements, and more.
As a part of this journey—to really revitalize the brand—Burger King felt it needed a space where it could bring several cross-functional departments together alongside its vendors and franchisees to “dream a little bit bigger about what the future of the guest experience may look like,” says VP of operations Marc Aust.
The result? A 40,000-square-foot Royal Innovation Center in Miami, near Burger King’s headquarters. The idea for the testing facility first came about in the summer of 2022, with construction following in 2023. It took more than a year to build before officials could begin using the space. The venue gives Burger King better focus on optimizing back and front-of-house operations, advancing AI and technology, and evolving the restaurant design and image.
The centerpiece of the building is a life-sized Burger King Sizzle restaurant (the chain’s latest prototype) where employees can simulate operations and test different layouts before they’re implemented throughout the system.
“We started with an empty warehouse and we just went broadly across the organization to our development team and our technology groups and our operations innovation team and we tried to figure out, OK, how can we transform this empty warehouse to a place where we can think about equipment innovation, where we can think about process and technology innovation, but also we needed a space that was big enough to allow us to have a full-sized Sizzle restaurant so that we can test what would a full drive-thru operation look like and really get a feel for that space in three dimensions,” Aust says. “That process took some months, and then we just went to work and what we ended up with is a really engaging space again that’s inviting for our franchise advisory boards. We’re just bringing everyone together to really think about what the future of that guest experience looks like.”
With the mock Sizzle restaurant—which includes a dual-lane drive-thru—Burger King is able to brainstorm how to best take and hand off orders across all of its service channels. Operationally, the chain is focused on eliminating non-value-added steps and tasks. The innovation center gives the company the ability to re-configure how equipment is laid out within a moment’s notice, everything from broilers to toasters to how its production lines are set up.
The company also tinkers with how far its windows are away from each other and analyzes how the car stack flows around the building. It’s all about making it easier for team members to get orders right while helping them be more productive by removing pain points. From a technology perspective, Burger King is determining how it can leverage AI in a way that doesn’t replace the human element but instead helps workers provide a more human, personalized, and better experience to guests.
Using a specific example, Burger King spent much time figuring out the right setup of the counter so that it feels intentional for dine-in and pickup guests and convenient for back-of-house staff. Aust estimates the chain went through about 20 iterations of what that should look like before it was approved for actual design.
The chain wants Sizzle to be optimized and responsive to what employees, franchisees, and guests are telling it. From a design point of view, “it’s a striking and beautiful” look, according to Aust, but also, the building needs to support a differentiated guest experience across all the various service methods and channels.
“Building a real Sizzle is a big investment for our franchisees out there,” Aust says. “And so we want to make sure that every single real Sizzle we put out in the real world is the best it can be, both from an operational complexity or efficiency perspective, as well as from a guest experience point of view.”
Before Burger King had the Royal Innovation Center, groups were either in a meeting room imagining the future through a PowerPoint or out in the real world seeing something that’s already been implemented. Now, the chain can give franchise advisory boards—ones focused on operations, development, digital and technology, marketing, and more—a clearer behind-the-scenes look at what’s coming. Aust says it allows for a true research and development experience. Instead of looking at a slide or document, operators can touch, feel, and interact with equipment or the layout.
Thus far, there’s been positive feedback from franchisees who appreciate the opportunity to weigh in early in the innovation process. Burger King has also sought advisement from vendors and in-restaurant employees.
“If you think about what you’re looking for in an innovation center, you really want to have an environment where people feel comfortable and they feel welcome and they feel that they can share their ideas and they can contribute,” Aust says. “And so we really try to be very intentional in designing an open space, a warm space. A space where people leave their title and their rank at the door. We want this to be a place that’s that’s open to anyone that touches the guest experience at Burger King in whichever way. And really our only requirement is that when you come in, we need you to keep an open mind and we need you to get your ideas out and into the open. Because you never know where the next really great transformative idea comes from.”
