Burger King to sell beer (...but in selected outlets only)

Punters looking for exotic beers at the Whopper Bar will be disappointed. Burger King is starting out with selling domestic brands like Miller and Budweiser and will consider other beers down the road.

According to media reports, the beer will be served in specially designed aluminum bottles. A Whopper combo with a beer will run to USD 7.99, which is about USD 2 more than the same meal with a soft drink. If punters go for a beer alone, that will set them back USD 4.25.

Burger King has not been adverse to selling alcohol elsewhere, though. Diners in beer-loving Germany and Venezuela can already buy a beer with their Whoppers and chips – provided they are of legal drinking age.

In the U.S., Burger King isn’t the first fast food chain to embrace alcohol – Starbucks already sells beer and wine at some of its cafes.

But with the competition for America’s fast food eaters getting fiercer by the day, Burger King needs novel ways to bring in more business.

Whether the new concept will go down well with Burger King’s regular customers is debatable, unless Burger King limits these Whopper Bars to “sin cities” like Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

In New York, local media have already found evidence that the mood among Burger King’s regular diners with children is not wholly pro-beer. Many think it is not a good idea because so many kids eat at Burger King. And you do not take children to a bar, or do you?

Burger King operates more than 12,000 restaurants in the U.S. and 73 countries worldwide. Approximately 90 percent of Burger King’s restaurants are owned and operated by independent franchisees, many of them family-owned operations.

In 2009 relations with Burger King’s franchisees turned sour. Most recently, franchisees in November sued Burger King over the USD 1 double cheeseburger promotion, claiming that store owners lose money on the deal and that the parent company can’t set a minimum price.