Burger King Unveils 40,000-Square-Foot Innovation Center

Burger King has unveiled its newest innovation, and it’s not on the menu.

QSR is reporting that the 40,000-square-foot Royal Innovation Center is in Miami near Burger King’s headquarters. The concept for the testing center first emerged in the summer of 2022, with construction beginning in 2023. It took more than a year to complete before officials could begin using the area. The location allows the fast-food giant to focus more on optimizing back-of-house and front-of-house operations, advancing AI and technology, and upgrading restaurant design and image.

At the heart of the facility is a full-scale model of Burger King’s newest restaurant design, known as the Sizzle prototype. This space allows staff to run simulated operations and experiment with various layout configurations before rolling them out across the brand’s locations.

“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,” said VP of Operations Marc Aust to the outlet.

He continued: “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.”

Major Burger King Franchisee Filed for Chapter 11

A major Burger King franchisee has also recently declared bankruptcy, resulting in the loss of hundreds of jobs and raising questions about the fast-food chain’s future prospects.

On April 14, Consolidated Burger Holdings, one of Burger King’s largest franchisees with 57 locations, declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company, situated in Destin, Florida, owes creditors over $37 million, according to Parade.

“Over the past several years, and particularly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Debtors’ business suffered significantly from loss of foot traffic, resulting in declining revenue without proportionate decreases in rental obligations, debt service, and other liabilities,” the franchisee wrote in the bankruptcy filing, per USA Today.