Residents living within a 10-minute drive of select Burger King locations in DC, Maryland and Virginia can place orders by phone or online and receive deliveries for a $2 fee, the company said in an e-mail. Burger King is starting with a handful of locations and requires a minimum order of $8 to $10. It will roll out the delivery service in 16 locations by Jan. 23, but hasn’t yet specified when the service will be available nationwide.
Burger King’s decision to deliver food makes so much sense that it’s painful — of course the evolution of eating has taken diners from cooking for themselves in actual kitchens, to driving up to actual kitchens, to ordering food from drive-ins, to not even needing to drive to get drive-thru food.
Delivery is a no-brainer for BK: Arguably, home-delivered Whoppers and fries are “disastrous for a country struggling with an ever-expanding collective waistline,” says Rene Lynch of the Los Angeles Times. But from a business perspective, this idea seems sure-fire, especially if Burger King really can keep burgers and fries from turning into a soggy mess en route. Let’s face it: “Home delivery is convenient, and Americans love convenience.”
Burger King says they have developed a way of transporting their burgers. They have developed a “proprietary thermal packaging technology,” says Jonathan Fitzpatrick, chief brand and operations officer for Burger King, “which ensures the Whopper is delivered hot and fresh, and the french fries are delivered hot and crispy.” Fresh hot food, quick delivery and you don’t even have to leave the house.
The trick to keeping the burger from getting soggy is by separating some of the condiments from the patty and lettuce, which Burger King does according to an actual consumer reporting from the Washington Post. They seem to have found the answer to burger sogginess.
But are we really this lazy? Here’s the flaw in Burger King’s plan, says Hamilton Nolan at Gawker: The King wants you to pony up an extra $2 “to wait 30 minutes to get food from a restaurant that is less than 10 minutes away.” For that to work, you have to believe that American burger junkies consider the walk from couch to car to be “too strenuous” and value inertia “far more than they value either their own money” or their need for more immediate gratification
“BK isn’t aiming for the obese-slacker market, says Michael Rosenwald in The Washington Post. It’s targeting busy families”
The items excluded from the delivery service are fountain drinks (drinks will come in bottles), shakes, coffee and all breakfast items. Delivery is available from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and they are aiming to bring your hot food to you within 30 minutes. You can either order by phone or online for your convenience.
And let’s be fair, fast food is not exclusively to blame for the obesity epidemic but it certainly isn’t helping.
Consider this… when throwing in a few extra dollars to save yourself from walking to your car for a fast meal is cheaper and easier than going grocery shopping and preparing a meal composed of whole, clean foods, we have a problem.
