Britain’s Best Burger: Americana’s Quest to Find The Ultimate Burger Combination

 

At Americana, we're always on the lookout for the perfect burger recipe. We dive into current trends and explore how operators can make the most out of them. That's why we've recently conducted some exciting research to uncover Britain's ultimate burger. Ready to sink your teeth into our findings? Let's dig in! 

 

The Prime Time Burger 

The Prime Time Burger, a beef patty with bacon, cheddar cheese and burger sauce served in a Brioche Bun is Britain’s Best Burger. That’s according to our new research, proving that traditional flavours and gourmet ingredients deserve hero status on burger menus over trendy alternatives. 

Such is the passion for the Prime Time Burger, a standout 64% of consumers say beef is the top choice when it comes to what type of meat-based patty to put between a burger bun. That’s more than twice as many as chicken, which comes in second with 24% of the vote.  

Lamb burgers (4%) trail behind in third position, while pork (3%) and fish (1%) sit at the bottom of the burger leaderboard. In terms of quantity, just one beef patty is not enough; almost two-thirds (64%) of consumers say two is the ultimate number, and almost half (47%) think the patty itself is the best bit of a burger. 

Adding Extra Fillings will Elevate Your Burger Offering! 

For 66% of the nation, cheese – specifically cheddar, which is the cheese of choice for almost half (43%) of all consumers – and bacon (43%) are the go-to gourmet burger fillings, beating more adventurous options such as jalapenos (12%), Mac ‘n’ Cheese (7%) and chorizo (5%).  

It’s a similar story in terms of favoured salad components. Burger staple, lettuce, is a must-have for more than half (60%) of consumers, and 40% say they would opt for tomato. Frickles, aka fried pickles (6%), and chilli peppers (12%) also prove tempting to consumers. In terms of the favourite sauce to dollop on a burger, tomato ketchup reigns supreme for 37% of consumers.  

Top tip:

The opportunity for operators planning their menus is to promote popular, local ingredients well known to their customers. South West venues could incorporate cheddar from Cheddar Gorge, whilst operators in North Wales could look to Snowdonia to purchase local cheese. And with so many components to a quality burger, the opportunity to work local produce on to menus doesn’t stop with cheese. 

Quality Burger Buns!  

To qualify as Britain’s Best Burger, a high-quality, gourmet bun is a vital ingredient. Specifically, Americana’s Brioche Bun is rated as an ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’ choice by 60% of consumers, followed by the brand’s Grill Marked Bun (52%) and Gourmet Kaiser Bun (44%). 

A huge 82% of those polled agreed that a burger in a gourmet bun looks more appealing than a standard bun, with 67% also saying that they would be disappointed if their burger was not served in a gourmet bun. With 62% confirming that it is ‘very important’ that their bun hold the contents of their burger without falling apart, it is clear that gourmet is the way to go in order to meet consumer bun preferences.   

Top tip:

For an effective and consumer-pleasing balance, we would encourage street food operators, pubs and restaurants to continue to have fun mixing things up with unique options while honouring the classic, quality burger elevated by a premium bun. This will cater for a range of tastes and develop the overall sales opportunity.

What are the Latest Burger Eating Habits? 

The research by Americana also delved into the nation’s burger-eating habits. A third (33%) of consumers order a gourmet burger in an out-of-home setting such as in a restaurant or pub once a month.

Most consumers (31%) are happy to spend up to £14.99 on a gourmet burger. In comparison, the majority of consumers polled (38%) are only prepared to spend £7.49 on a standard burger option.

 

 

In terms of the most important factor when choosing Britain’s Best Burger, nothing comes close to ‘taste and flavour’ for almost two-thirds (60%) of consumers. ‘Quality of ingredients’ (18%), ‘lots of fillings’ (8%) and ‘visual appeal’ (3%) are also factors considered. And consumers are prepared to wait for perfection – up to 20 minutes, say over a third (37%).  

Looking at vegetarian and vegan options, halloumi burgers come out top (30%), followed by mushroom burgers (11%) and bean burgers (10%). Meanwhile, over a quarter (27%) of consumers turn their thumbs down to ordering a vegetarian and vegan burger.  

Top tip:

Consumers hold the classics in high regard. They are prepared to pay that bit extra for them, and to wait a little longer for them to be prepared (7 in 10 would wait 20 minutes or more for Britain’s Best Burger!). Outlets should capitalise on this theme of tradition elevated to benefit the bottom line.  

Explore Our Products:

Brioche Bun on White 123
224757

Brioche Bun

82 g weight per piece
1039
223392

Gourmet Burger Bun

89 g weight per piece
5790001676 Grill Marked Burger Bun - White
5790001676

Grill Marked Burger Bun

77 g weight per piece
View our full range of Gourmet Buns!

 

 

Sources:

*Circana, CREST, 52 w/e September 2023.
**Opeepl, Americana, Britain’s Best Burger Research, January 2024.
†Opeepl, Americana, study of 500 diners from across the UK and all demographics, August 2021.
Lumina Intelligence Menu Tracker Tool, Spring/Summer 2023.