Wendy’s takes on burger rivals with first Australian store in decades
The world’s third-largest burger chain is launching after months of taste-testing and planning. But other big American brands have tried, and failed, to grow.
Lauren Leahy has spent months planning for this week. At 9am sharp tomorrow, American burger chain Wendy’s will open its first local store in almost four decades and become the most significant challenger yet to established fast food giants such as McDonald’s and Guzman y Gomez.
“I have arguably eaten every hamburger in Australia; sometime felt like I was becoming a hamburger myself,” says Leahy, the chief transformation officer of Flynn Group, the world’s biggest franchisee and the company that has owned the rights to Wendy’s in Australia since late 2023.
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clarification —
This article has been updated to reflect that Flynn Group, not Leahy, worked on the Wendy’s launch in Australia for 15 month.
Joanne Tran is a markets reporter for The Australian Financial Review in the Sydney newsroom. Connect with Joanne on Twitter. Email Joanne at jo.tran@afr.com
