Love of burgers fuels Middle East stores

Burger Fuel directors Josef Roberts and Chris Mason are working with Abdullah Fouad Group directors Hamad Albuali and Sheikh Faisal to sell burgers. Photo / Supplied

Gourmet burger chain Burger Fuel announced yesterday it had secured its fifth site in the Middle East, in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

The company already has one store in Saudi Arabia that opened in February and another in Dubai that opened in July, as well as two sites for development in Bahrain and Dubai.

Burger Fuel spokesman Alexis Lam said the company was focused on expanding into the Middle East because the region was hungry for Westernised food.

Lam said the Middle East was dominated by American burger giants such as McDonald's and Burger King, but there was a gap in the market for gourmet burgers.

He said customers were enjoying the New Zealand-sourced products.

"We're serving New Zealand beef. We're now an exporter of New Zealand beef [halal]. A lot of the beef there [in the Middle East] is from America. People are enjoying the New Zealand products."

Lam said chicken bacon was served instead of pork bacon because of religious specifications.

The company was approached by franchise holders Alphamed Group, in Dubai, and the Abdullah Fouad Group, in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, and they have helped secure the sites.

Burger Fuel managing director of international markets Chris Mason said, "This will enable us to concentrate on other smaller units after the construction and opening of two stores."

Burger Fuel was founded in Auckland in 1995 and the first store was in Ponsonby Rd.

The company has 27 stores around the country and two in Sydney.