In the Corona Crisis, the average bonus went up.
The German company Burgerme combines premium burgers and premium delivery - two high-growth factors that have been further enhanced by the Corona pandemic. A review and outlook from founder and CEO Stephan Gschöderer.
This text is an excerpt. Read the detailed case study in the May issue of foodservice (German). Read now!
At the beginning of the pandemic, however, the franchise concept, which is represented throughout Germany, had to contend with the burgeoning uncertainties: Are the supply chains intact? What about the availability of goods? Will employees stay healthy and on board?
In addition,
orders dropped noticeably at the beginning of the first lockdown. "We made the decision early on to completely shut down in-house consumption and the to-go business nationwide right away in March due to the legal uncertainty," said
Burgerme CEO Stephan Gschöderer. He added that this had an
impact on sales - down 12 per cent year-on-year in March on a like-for-like basis, after all.
Burgerme: sales development on existing areas during the pandemic.
Sales already picked up
again in
May. In
2020, Burgerme averaged
20 percent more sales in existing establishments than the previous year. Total 2020 sales in Germany rose by around €13.2 million, or 33.2 percent, to €53 million.
Well prepared in advance
According to Gschöderer, the
delivery industry has once again shown itself to be in tune with the times and
not very susceptible to crises, even in these challenging times. "Burgerme has coped with the corona crisis encouragingly well so far," he said. Advantageously, he said, the government's decision to always allow delivery and takeaway to continue. "However, we benefited from the fact that we were
professionally and timely positioned in terms of digitalisation, innovation and customer focus and had to make few adjustments during the crisis. We therefore faced fewer challenges than other companies," reports Gschöderer.
Burgerme was
planned as a delivery concept from the very beginning. That's why the entire business, all products, processes and even the packaging are designed with this in mind. The concept is the result of consistent doing, which is the big difference to many other providers, he says. "Our burgers taste even better when they are delivered," says Gschöderer.
A multitude of small and large
factors influence the
quality in which the
product reaches the guest.
The most important factor: time! The burgers and fries, the most ordered item in total, are produced just in time and must not wait too long for the driver. These are mainly on the road with e-bikes and put the delivery in heated heat bags.
The food is delivered within a
maximum radius of 3 kilometres - guests are guaranteed delivery within a maximum of 30 minutes. If it doesn't work out, the customer gets a 5-euro voucher for the next order. The Burgerme claim, however, is that it goes faster.
Not feasible with third-party providers
During
peak hours , around 100 orders go out
per store. From a
cost perspective, that's not
feasible with a third-party delivery company, he said. "We are so experienced and plan every quarter of an hour of our roster to be perfect, and we have enough to do in organizing our own staff alone," Gschöderer points out. He adds that the short delivery time cannot be guaranteed with a third-party provider. Burgerme does work with Lieferando, but the platform only acts as an order broker for Burgerme.
The lion's share of sales comes from its own mobile-adapted website. In the second quarter, Burgerme afforded a new version of its app, through which about a third of the orders come in.
This text is an excerpt. Read the full case study in the May issue of foodservice (German). Read now!