Inside New Zealand’s booming burger market: Who’s winning the takeaway race?

New Zealand’s hospitality industry has been under pressure in recent years, with high overheads and rising food prices eating into profits and forcing some to close.

But one subsection of the industry is thriving – takeaway. According to the Restaurant Association of New Zealand, takeaway food services made an estimated $1.1 billion in sales over the first quarter of 2026, up 3.4% year-on-year.

The takeaway sector has a diverse offering, whether it’s the classic Kiwi fish and chips, fried chicken, a growing Asian food scene, or the many independent restaurants across the country.

One segment that takes a sizeable bite is burgers.

From the big international chains to home-grown offerings, New Zealand has a proliferation of burgers on the market.

But who are the main players in the industry and what does the future of the burger business look like?

Fragmented industry

First Retail Group managing director Chris Wilkinson said increased channels such as delivery had removed the importance of location in growing takeaway businesses.

“Once upon a time your competitor was the guy down the road. Now that competitor could be in another district,” Wilkinson said.

“You could actually be anywhere and have a site fulfilling that local market. In the old days you’d be thinking I want to have that corner site, I need that brand visibility.”

Wilkinson said younger consumers were making decisions purely based on reviews or what they’d seen on social media such as TikTok, meaning a business’ site could easily be located in a forgotten residential area.

For those smaller businesses looking to grow, Wilkinson said maintaining a tight menu and strong discipline around buying and portion control was critical.

He also recommended technology to automate processes such as ordering, noting that while traditional service was fine, technology offers scalability.

Biggest burger chains

The Herald has compiled a list of New Zealand’s largest burger chains to see who really is top of the pile.

For this list, the Herald considered burger chains with more than five locations, and those with a menu focused specifically on burgers – so KFC, Popeyes and Chicking were not considered.

McDonald’s New Zealand

To the surprise of no one, McDonald’s New Zealand takes the top spot as New Zealand’s largest burger chain.

First opened in Porirua in 1976, McDonald’s has grown to 177 sites across New Zealand, with six more to come over the next year – including recent news of a fourth location in Palmerston North.

Employing around 12,000 part and fulltime staff, McDonald’s has about one million people through its doors every week.

A 2024 snapshot of McDonald’s New Zealand showed it spent $235 million on local produce for the domestic market and exported $287m of it to its restaurants worldwide.

McDonald’s New Zealand has 22 burgers on its menu, ranging from the classic Big Mac and McChicken to the Almighty Texan BBQ, with prices from $4.40 for a Hamburger to $16.60 for a Double McCrispy.

Burger King

Up next is major rival – Burger King. With 79 locations across New Zealand and about 1800 employees, the challenger has had a turbulent history here.

Opening in New Zealand nearly 20 years after its competitor in 1993, the business has cycled through various owners and franchise operators over the past three decades.

The franchise was initially brought here by Auckland entrepreneurs Dennis Jones and Mark Backhaus, with oil company Shell New Zealand acquiring 50% of the business in 1996.

Jones and Backhaus then bought out two of their former business partners, James Barger and Australian Graeme Plum, and Shell New Zealand, to acquire control of Burger King in a deal understood to be worth up to $30m.

At the time, the business had 60 restaurants, which held up to 20% market share and had annual sales of more than $90m.

Then in 2009, Sydney-based Anchorage Capital Partners acquired the business for between $50m and $150m.

Two years later, US private equity firm Blackstone Group bought the business for $108m, acquiring the exclusive franchise development rights for the brand in New Zealand and its 75 locations.

Blackstone Group held on to the business until 2020, when Covid lockdowns and mounting debt forced the local holding company Tango Holdings into receivership, owing creditors more than $50m.

Receivers Brendon Gibson and Grant Graham of Calibre Partners then sold the chain to investment company Tahua Partners, the owners of the Starbucks and Popeyes franchises in New Zealand, for $30.48m.

Burger King today has about 48 burgers on its menu, with prices ranging from $4.50 for a Hamburger to $21.50 for a Triple Rodeo Mega Stacker.

Burger Fuel Group

The first locally owned chain on the list, BurgerFuel is the next largest player in New Zealand’s burger market.

Founded by Kiwi Chris Mason, BurgerFuel opened its first store in 1995 on Auckland’s Ponsonby Rd as he aimed to share his take on “the gourmet burger”.

The business began to grow, bringing on Red Bull Australasia founder Josef Roberts before listing on the New Zealand Exchange in 2007.

Then, in a first for a New Zealand-owned burger business, BurgerFuel took its products to the Middle East, opening a 200-seater restaurant in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, in 2010, before adding a store in Dubai later the same year. Both locations are still in operation under franchise.

BurgerFuel next took its offering to the United States, opening a store in Indianapolis in 2017, although the business exited the territory three years later.

The business also spun out a sister company in 2018 called Shake Out, offering a simplified menu for lower prices.

Shake Out has three physical stores and 26 virtual kitchens operating out of BurgerFuel stores. If it were independent, Shake Out would be the fifth-largest burger player in the market.

Today, BurgerFuel has 62 stores across New Zealand, with new locations soon to open at Auckland International Airport, Nelson and Huapai, taking the network to 65 sites.

The company has about 1000 fulltime and part-time employees, and generated $108m in sales for the 12 months ended March 31, 2026.

BurgerFuel has 26 different burgers on its menu, with prices ranging from $9 for a Hamburgini with Cheese to $22.50 for a Parmageddon burger.

RE Burger

The quietly rising challenger on the block, RE Burger has become one of the largest mid-tier players in the New Zealand burger market.

RE Burger began as a food truck in 2016 founded by former chef Boris Reiber (the name is a play on its owner’s surname), who wanted to bring a slice of London’s street food magic to the streets of Dunedin.

The business opened its first bricks-and-mortar location in Dunedin in September 2017.

In the next four years, Reiber opened just as many stores, until the burgeoning franchise hit critical mass and RE Burger bars began sprouting up exponentially across New Zealand.

RE Burger has expanded to 37 locations across New Zealand, averaging three to four new sites every year since it started.

The mid-tier player has 38 burgers on its menu, with prices starting at $8.90 for a Lil’ Cheese and rising to $22.90 for a Renegade Double.

Burger Wisconsin

Next up in the mid-tier is one of New Zealand’s oldest burger joints, Burger Wisconsin.

Founded by Mick Davenport in the Wellington suburb of Wadestown in 1989, the business is self-described as “New Zealand’s oldest gourmet burger franchise”.

The chain claims to have introduced combinations such as avocado and bacon and camembert and cranberry to the New Zealand takeaway market, which are now considered Kiwi staples.

Burger Wisconsin was sold to Steve Hanna and Tim Stewart in mid-2005 for an undisclosed sum. They owned and operated the business for 10 years.

In 2015 the business was then acquired by Mariposa Restaurant Holdings, the owners of Mexican food franchise Mexicali Fresh.

Mariposa Restaurant Holdings’ largest shareholder is Mirage Property Investments, owned by the co-founder of internet company ihug, Tim Wood.

Today, Burger Wisconsin has 20 locations across the country, all run by local franchisees.

Burger Wisconsin has 21 different items on its menu, with prices ranging from $8 for a Beef Holler to $23.90 for a Full Monty.

Wendy’s

Starting at a similar time to Burger Wisconsin, Wendy’s New Zealand was launched in Te Atatū in 1988 by Danny and Dianne Lendich, who held the master licence for New Zealand.

The Lendichs unintentionally fell into the business when they were opening petrol stations.

The family was redeveloping land for a retail centre in Te Atatū, of which Wendy’s was geared up to become a tenant, when the deal with the party originally set to launch the brand in the market fell through, forcing them to step in.

The Lendich family ended up operating the business for 35 years, opening stores across the country and forming partnerships with other brands, including the New Zealand Warriors NRL team.

In 2022, the Lendich family announced it was seeking a new owner for the business, hiring an advisory firm to assist in the process.

At the time Wendy’s employed 450 staff in New Zealand and operated 12 stores in Auckland, eight in other parts of the North Island and two in the South Island.

The business was acquired by the US-based Flynn Group in May 2024, the largest franchise operator in the world.

Flynn Group chief executive Greg Flynn told the Herald in an exclusive interview about his plans to grow the New Zealand business and expand its presence across the Tasman.

Today, Wendy’s New Zealand has 20 locations across the country with about 500 employees.

Wendy’s New Zealand has 34 burgers on its menu, with prices ranging from $4.90 for a Hamburger to $20.20 for a Big Bacon Classic Triple.

Downlow

One of the most recent players to enter the market, Downlow was first launched in 2023.

Founded by the owner of Mad Group, James Tucker, the American-inspired smash-burger business spun out of several Mad Mex outlets that closed over the course of 2023.

The business operates 20 locations under a franchise model, with another two currently non-trading.

Downlow’s Kelston, Ponsonby and Kohimarama locations are in liquidation, with directors of each franchise location putting the liquidations down to a combination of internal and external pressures.

As owner of the franchise rights, not the stores themselves, Tucker is not responsible for the individual companies’ liquidations.

Downlow has 14 burgers on its all-day menu, with prices starting at $11.50 for The Bacon, Egg and BBQ, to $19.90 for the O.G. Triple Smashed Cheeseburger.

Carl’s Jr.

American chain Carl’s Jr. entered New Zealand in 2011, with its first store opening in Auckland’s Takanini.

The chain was brought to New Zealand by Barry Forsgren under his Forsgren NZ holding company, with part-ownership from All Black Michael Jones.

Forsgren and Jones were the original franchise partners for Carl’s Jr. and had the rights to open eight such stores in Auckland.

However, in December 2011, after the opening of New Zealand’s first store, Restaurant Brands New Zealand bought the rights to operate the American fast-food chain in this country from United States-based CKE Restaurants, which owns the brand.

At the time, Restaurant Brands said it had exclusive rights to develop the chain throughout New Zealand.

By August 2014, Forsgren NZ had expanded Carl’s Jr. to seven Auckland outlets, including locations in Glen Innes, Takanini, Henderson and Avondale.

Then in November 2014, Restaurant Brands signed a conditional agreement to acquire the seven Carl’s Jr. stores for a total consideration of $10.5m, making Restaurant Brands the sole operator in the New Zealand market.

Restaurant Brands, which had been trading on the NZX since 1997, was then taken private by the company’s largest shareholder Finaccess, after buying out the remaining 25% of shareholders for $157m.

Today, Carl’s Jr. has 17 stores across New Zealand and features 26 burgers on its menu, with prices ranging from $4.49 for a Hamburger to $14.49 for its Memphis BBQ Big Angus.

Better Burger

Last and certainly not least on this list is Better Burger, founded in 2014 by the team of five behind Britomart Hospitality Group: Nick McCaw, Rod Ballenden, Jeremy Priddy, Blair Wolfgram and Paul Gibbard.

The Kiwi chain has set itself apart from its competitors, with a focus on fresher ingredients and better environmental practices.

The latter is best exemplified by the brand’s 100% commercially compostable packaging, alongside the introduction of recycling bins taking waste to a certified composting facility.

Better Burger opened its first store in Auckland’s Britomart before expanding quickly to Vulcan Lane and beyond.

Today Better Burger has 12 locations across New Zealand, and features seven burgers on its menu, with prices ranging from $8.99 for a Salad Burger to $18.99 for a BBQ Bacon Double Cheeseburger.

Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.