US fast food giant Wendy’s to shake up Aussie burger market with 200 restaurants

American fast food giant Wendy’s is officially headed to Australia. Here’s what makes their burgers different and how much you’ll pay.

American fast food giant Wendy’s will open its first Australian restaurants in 2025 and plans to have 200 outlets across the country by 2034 in its long-awaited expansion plan.

In a bid to shake up Australia’s competitive burger market, the chain’s unique square burgers will be priced somewhere between McDonald’s and Grill’d, and sold at a mix of drive-through and high street outlets.

As many as 10,000 staff will be needed for the chain’s 200 restaurants, although Wendy’s is also promising to leverage its partnership with Google to serve customers with new technology, such as an artificial intelligence chatbot it is trialling at US drive-through outlets.

And despite Australian customers already eating at a Wendy’s – the Wendy’s Milk Bar ice cream chain – the US giant is adamant it will not be changing its name to open down under.

A Wendy's burger. The American chain is planning to open 200 Australian restaurants by 2034. Picture: Katherine Frey/The Washington Post via Getty Images

“We’ll definitely be launching as Wendy’s. That’s who we are,” the company’s international president and chief development officer Abigail Pringle said in an interview.

“We’re not concerned … We don’t see it having an impact on our ability to launch. We don’t see an impact from a brand standpoint or a legal standpoint.”.

Wendy’s international president and chief development officer Abigail Pringle. Picture: Tom Dubanowich

Describing Australia as a “market ready for disruption”, Ms Pringle said she was confident America’s second biggest burger business would succeed down under after a failed experiment in the 1980s.

She said the company had done “a significant amount of research”, including a pop-up outlet in Sydney two years ago, and would tailor its offerings to meet the demands of Australian consumers.

While the US menu will be replicated in Australia, including the popular Wendy’s Frosty dessert, Ms Pringle promised to use local ingredients such as fresh beef while also offering “some Australian flavour” in new products, along with salads and vegetarian options.

Wendy's will be “an especially great fit for Australia”. Picture: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images

“You need to stay true to who you are … People want the iconic American brand that they know,” she said.

“But Australians are savvy customers. They want a place they can bring their families to, they want quality, they don’t want to cut corners – and that’s why our burgers are square, not round.”

Ms Pringle indicated the restaurant’s burgers would be priced between US rival McDonald’s and Australia’s own Grill’d, with an emphasis on “quality that is as good if not better than some of the better burger brands” combined with “an affordable price that can be more approachable for consumers”.

The 200 stores will be managed by Flynn Restaurant Group, the world’s largest restaurant franchise operator which took over Pizza Hut’s Australian operations in June in its first move beyond the US.

Flynn Restaurant Group chief Ron Bellamy said Wendy’s had “significant untapped potential outside of the US”.

“We think it is an especially great fit for Australia, given the savvy nature of the Australian consumer,” he said.

The arrival of Wendy’s follows other US burger chains including Five Guys and Carls Jr.