Israelis decide to have it their way

May 11, 2010 - 9:41 AM by

So many American retail food chains have bitten the dust in Israel over the years: Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, Wendy’s, Ben & Jerrry’s.

Maybe it was the price, or maybe it was because, just as we have a different rhythm to life here, there’s also a different spice to our food and drink. Not neccessarily a literal spice that goes in the food, but a touch of history and pride and soul that goes into the native dishes that make up our melting pot cuisine.

So while Israelis tend to have a palpable love for anything American, when it comes to food, we just think we can do it better. The latest news to prove that point was the announcement this week that after 20 years flipping kosher flame-grilled Whoppers, Burger King is phasing out its Israeli establishments, which will be taken over by the local equivalent Burger Ranch.


Orgad Holdings, Burger King’s local franchisee since 2005, bought out Burger Ranch last year from the Paz gasoline company who had acquired it over 10 years ago from its original owners, a South African family who had immigrated to Israel and founded their first fast food Burger Ranch in the late 1970s.

I remember being flown down to Eilat by the original owners in the mid 1990s to report on the opening of the chain’s first restaurant inside a hotel. Growing up with Burger King and McDonald’s, I found the Burger Ranch burger to be decent but not match for its American competitors.

However according to The Jerusalem Post, in their press release this week, Orgad said that recent research indicated that the Israeli style of hamburgers at Burger Ranch was far more popular than the American Burger Ranch. So from August, the 52 Burger Kings around the country will join the 55 Burger Ranches to create one huge burger dynasty.

And Burger King will join the other American giants who came to Israel to conquer, and ended up being conquered.

Tags: , , , , , , • Category: A New Reality, Business, Food, General, Israeliness, Life 

Comments

5 Comments on Israelis decide to have it their way

  1. Anonymous on Tue, May 11th 2010 9:15 PM

    2. Didn’t Ben & Jerry’s. recently open a factory in Tel Aviv?

  2. David-Joe on Fri, May 14th 2010 3:55 AM

    3. I am from an Israeli generation – born in 1958 – that generally did not each much meat, and I do not eat red meat. These fast food establishments are not considered food by me.

    The smells eminating from places such as McD’s, I find disgusting. But a restaurant chain like Burger Ranch and another South African chain called Spur, do smell very different from American places.

    Turkish coffee, tehina and humous as well as felafel is still my preference. Only the SBUX French Roast is palatable to me, the rest of their coffees are just horrible.

    I am not a majority anymore because the younger generations have been raised in more affluent and much less troubled times – I am pleased to acknowledge.

    But I do find it interesting that the successful American brands fail in Israel.

    I guess at the end of the day, we are very much part of the middle east and it shows up in the most unexpected ways.

    Someone ought to do a phd in the phenomenon and perhaps they will discover something uselful that these chains can use.

    There was a similar reaction in China to KFC, but I think KFC changed the oil and the recipes slightly and they took off.

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  5. Hotels Ayia Napa on Fri, Jan 28th 2011 12:12 PM

    6. I would like to taste Israel cuisine!

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