BurgerFuel

Fresh Burgers in the Garden City

Posted by BurgerFuel

With six BurgerFuel stores peppered across the Garden City, you might think that brand recognition or awareness would be a challenge in such a big city, with so few and far between stores. But with dedicated store owners working tirelessly on local store marketing initiatives and building lasting business relationships, this simply isn’t the case for our BurgerFuel Christchurch fam.

We have two sets of franchisees who own 3 stores a piece. Malte and Stephan; two business partners and German gentlemen with impeccable manners and an intense passion for delivering exceptional customer service, own BurgerFuel Spitfire Square, Bush Inn and Ferrymead. Dan and Tash Chima; a young couple who have worked hard to establish on-brand business partnerships and are super engaged with their staff, own BurgerFuel Hereford Street, Papanui and Sydenham.

What made them want to get into the burger biz? Read on to hear a little about their stories.

Malte & Stephan

They've been indoctrinated into the Kiwi lifestyle and Malte and Stephan now call New Zealand home. They are two incredibly down to earth and welcoming franchisees, who will invite you into their stores as if it were their own living room. They take immense pride in each store and follow operational guidelines to the letter.

Malte fell in love with Aotearoa in 2010 when on sabbatical. Tragedy struck just before his holiday had nearly come to an end and the Christchurch earthquake set him on a new path, helping locals with insurances and getting back on their feet. He subsequently met Stephan, who needed some support in establishing his small goods business, and a friendship was born. They came across an opportunity in the highly competitive and everchanging hospitality market. Jumping at the challenge, they became the first BurgerFuel franchisees in the South Island.

Drawn to the fun and uniqueness of this Kiwi burger joint, they resonated with the brand’s strong stance on the store owner being heavily involved in their community – essentially presenting as ‘Mr BurgerFuel’. They adopted this from the get-go and today it is still paramount to them, “the community recognises and appreciates that BurgerFuel franchisees are the faces of their business” says Malte.

Malte is the local marketing brains behind their business. His empathetic nature sees him getting involved in charitable local events and developing meaningful partnerships with local organisations or people. He has a real drive to see BurgerFuel Christchurch stores implementing impactful brand activations in his city.

Stephan is passionate about operational excellence. He runs a tight ship and keeps staff motivated by working alongside them, leading by example, donning the BurgerFuel uniform and getting amongst it.

Their BurgerFuel machine is fittingly, a ’74 Volkswagen T2 Kombi-Van and they have long-standing relationships with local car clubs, holding a number of events at their ample carpark spaces at store front, such as cruise nights, meets or partnering with the Ferrymead Rockabilly Show & Shine crew on numerous occasions. They have held epic drive-in movie nights, with over 200 classic cars and eager movie-goers in attendance, keen to experience a nostalgic or novelty drive in, with burgers delivered right to their window. Memorable nights that are sure to be repeated.

Head to BurgerFuel Bush Inn, Ferrymead or Bush Inn to meet the guys and their fantastic team. You won’t be disappointed.

BurgerFuel Bush Inn: Bush Inn Shopping Centre, Cnr Riccarton And Waimairi Roads, Riccarton, Christchurch | 03 341 1159

BurgerFuel Ferrymead: 1005 Ferry Rd, Ferrymead, Christchurch | 03 376 6444

BurgerFuel Spitfire Square: Spitfire Square Shopping Centre, Corner Of Memorial Ave & Peter Leeming Rds, Christchurch | 03 357 1004

Dan & Tash

Dan & Tash, both born and bred in Christchurch, have two beautiful children, Lucas, and Indi. Their children have been a part of their BurgerFuel journey from the very start, with Indi being born the week before their first store opening, BurgerFuel Papanui.

Keen ‘Foodies’, they knew a good thing when they saw it, according to Tash, “we discovered BurgerFuel and absolutely loved it - we probably ate it once or twice a week. We loved the whole vibe, the burgers were all incredible and we instinctively wanted to be a part of it”. Due to the complexity of finding the right site in a still broken city, things took a little longer than they hoped, but they eventually opened the second ever store in Christchurch and were over the moon.

Their stores hold true to the BurgerFuel vibe of 'fun, fast and loud' and you can feel that enthusiasm through the staff, when dining at their stores. 

They loved that BurgerFuel was a kiwi born concept and Dan, being a huge car enthusiast was pulled in by the brands alignment with custom and classic cars.  So these franchisees too, have made some mates in the right car places. You're likely to see the odd gathering of hot rods parked up outside their Sydenham store, grabbing a bite before or after heading out on a cruise.

Dan is a keen salesman and loves interacting with people, combine that with Tash, who has a degree in Marketing and loves to connect with staff and customers, and you have a winning combination.

Dan and Tash love their city and are staunch supporters of local, they highly recommend eateries such as 5th Street, Hello Sunday, Amazonita, OGB and Bar Yoku, just to name a few. And when they aren’t spending time juggling parenting and running three stores, you’ll find them sweating away their sins at The HIIT Squad - an awesome HIIT based gym run by Christchurch local, Matt Bateman & his team.

“We are a part of many local communities with our stores and children's school, but Christchurch is a very special place and the degree of separation is very small here. After the earthquakes, sadly Christchurch has had to rebuild itself, but we are excited to be a part of it and we are also excited for the incredible changes we've seen in this city”.

Come meet Dan, Tash and the team! Delivery is also currently avaialable at their stores, so you can get burgers delivered right to your door, Doofer and all!

BurgerFuel Hereford St: 120 Hereford St, Christchurch Central | 03 365 6666

BurgerFuel Papanui: 485 Papanui Rd, Christchurch | 03 352 2557

BurgerFuel Sydenham: 290 Colombo St, Sydenham, Christchurch | 03 332 1777