2004 Consumers' Choice in Chains | Burgers: In-N-Out Burger
By Staff -- Restaurants & Institutions, 9/1/2004
2004 Consumers’ Choice in Chains
BURGERS > IN-N-OUT BURGER
In-N-Out Burger is not averse to publicity but the chain doesn’t seek it. “We’re publicity-shy,’’ says Carl Van Fleet, vice president of planning and general manager. He declines to talk numbers—as does everyone at the company—and maintains that there is nothing new to tell about the chain or its menu. Yet, In-N-Out continues its iron-fisted grip on the Choice in Chains burger category, snagging the top spot this year as it has for the past six. “We’re just the little guys on the West Coast,’’ he says. “We’ve been focusing on the same thing for 56 years.’’
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Little has changed since founders Harry and Esther Snyder opened their first drive-thru in 1948 in Baldwin Park, Calif. Even today, the hallmark of In-N-Out Burger remains its textbook simplicity: a family-owned business with a limited menu of burgers, fries, soft drinks and shakes, and relentlessly tight controls on food quality, cleanliness and service.
Bowing to trends has never been part of the chain’s formula. Protein-style burgers, served in lettuce leaves instead of buns, have been available for years at In-N-Out, not on the menu board but always available to those who ask. Produce, including vine-ripened tomatoes, is delivered fresh daily. Lettuce is washed and torn by hand, and patrons watch as potatoes are cut into fries just before they hit the bubbling oil. Frozen food, heat lamps and microwave ovens never are used. In-N-Out’s own butchers grind beef daily while buns are baked each morning from yeast-fed dough.
Treating employees properly increases loyalty and reduces turnover, Van Fleet says. Hourly wages start at $8.25 and manager salaries are said to be highly competitive. The company, which remains highly regional, will open 10 units before 2005, mainly in Nevada.
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