Expansion
On 5 May 2008, BurgerFuel Worldwide announced it had agreed to its first master franchise agreement with Dubai-based Al Khayyat Investment Group Investments LLC. They set up, and operated stores in Dubai, UAE by the end of the year.[8] There are two BurgerFuel stores in Al-Khobar, and 3 branches in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.[9]
BurgerFuel won the "Franchise Export" of the Year award at the Westpac New Zealand Franchise Awards 2012. The judges praised BurgerFuel for not just selling high quality, gourmet products, but also for developing the company into a specialist exporter which sources raw materials from New Zealand wherever possible.[10]
On 14 Jan 2014, BurgerFuel Worldwide announced a $5.9m injection from new US investor - Milford, Connecticut-based Franchise Brands (backed by Subway founders Fred DeLuca and Peter Buck) to fund global expansion. The purchase was for 10% of the company with the option to raise this to 50% over 8 years. They planned to assist with BurgerFuel expansion particularly into the United States market. BurgerFuel Worldwide shares immediately leapt 80% as a result to an all-time high of $2.70 per share. They have since reached a high of $3.15 per share valuing the company at over $170m. Subsequently, it has risen to be worth over $200m placing it as the most valuable company on the NZAX market. [11]
On 4 November 2014, BurgerFuel Worldwide passed NZ$200m (US$156m) market capitalisation on the New Zealand Exchange for the first time and closed at NZ$226m (US$176m) which is a new record for BurgerFuel Worldwide.
On 4 June 2015, BurgerFuel Worldwide announced a partnership with California-based franchisor OhCal Foods as part of its plan to break into the US market.[12] Following the death of Subway founder Fred DeLuca, BurgerFuel Worldwide decided to enter the US market alone.
On 29 May 2017, BurgerFuel opened their first United States restaurant in Indianapolis.[13]
In October 2020 the store in Indianapolis closed ending their expansion into the USA.[14][15]
It was announced in March 2022 that due to the Omicron variant of COVID-19 all UAE stores except one in Dubai would close.[16]
