A funny thing’s happening to fast-food burgers: Angus That’s Angus as in better quality meat. That’s Angus as in beef that’s a tad tastier. That’s Angus as in it’s-sure-as-heck-gonna-cost-you-more-for-the-burger — about a nickel, anyways…
Behind all this: continued consumer demand — particularly from aging baby boomers — for better-tasting, higher-quality fast food. While industry burger sales are up about 2% in the past year, sales of the pricier, bigger burgers have grown more than twice as fast — up 5%, says Russ Klein, global marketing chief at Burger King.
Also, a growing number of burger chains have recognized that the term Angus beef — a slightly higher grade of beef from hornless cattle that originated in Scotland – radiates high consumer perception of quality. In other words, it’s part marketing gimmick. [Horovitz]
Horovitz, Bruce. “Fast-food restaurants herd Angus beef burgers onto menu.” Yahoo!. 24 March 2004. <story.news.yahoo.com/ news?tmpl=story&ncid=&e=5&u=/ usatoday/ 20040324/ bs_usatoday/ fastfoodrestaurantsherdangusbeefburgersontomenu> (25 March 2004).