FOR years, Hungry Jack’s has told Australians that its “burgers are better”.

But our new love affair with burgers — and the $4.2 billion annual revenue the industry generates — means the market is crowded and the standards are higher.

Consumers demand restaurant-quality meals wherever they go. Even airports and food courts now sell gourmet burgers made with organic, free-range and handmade ingredients.

For example, Neil Perry’s Burger Project chain just opened in a suburban shopping centre in Sydney’s north west. With that kind of competition, a Whopper burger just won’t cut it anymore.

So this week, Hungry Jack’s launched what it hopes will be the winner in the burger wars, the Grill Masters beef burger range.

The three burgers, priced at $8.95 each, are made with thick Angus beef patties, a brioche bun and come served in a brown cardboard box with a side of chips.

There’s the Angus Classic (beef, cheese, tomato, lettuce, tomato relish and herb mayonnaise), Fiery Angus (beef, cheese, tomato, lettuce, onion rings, tomato relish, herb mayonnaise and jalapeños) and Angus BBQ Beef (beef, cheese, grilled onions, pickles, barbecue sauce and mustard.)

The burger chain also changed its chips from shoestring fries to thick-cut chips with seasoned salt, not plain salt, and the espresso coffee is now made with Arabica beans.

Hungry Jack’s is so keen on proving that its coffee is good, that it set up an unmarked pop-up cafe on Sydney’s Enmore Road selling the coffee in plain cups to unsuspecting hipsters.

“Our new coffee with 100 per cent Arabica beans is so good, we reckon you’d never guess it was from Hungry Jacks,” a Hungry Jack’s employee said to camera, a line that echoes the sentiment of the “How very un-McDonald’s” ads.

“We just thought it was one of your regular cafes. We had no idea it was Hungry Jack’s coffee, but it was really good,” one man said.

Two new-look restaurants — in Tumb Umbi on the NSW central coast and Burnie, Tasmania — are testing grounds for a new in-store design layout being rolled out.

More than 60 per cent of Hungry Jack’s sales are made via drive through, so the outdoor area of some stores now includes an undercover drive through area with a garden wall and timber finishes.

It’s becoming harder to compete in the fast food industry, says Hungry Jack’s chief marketing officer Scott Baird, so outlets need to be constantly improving.

“There’s a lot of gourmet burger stores popping up on a weekly basis and there’s new competition as well in the fast casual food arena, so we need to be aware of them,” Mr Baird told news.com.au.

After monitoring consumer feedback and spending a “considerable” amount of money on blind taste testing, the company realised its menu needed to change.

“We did taste tests — both with our products and our competitors — to see what people liked,” Mr Baird said.

“We needed to lift our credentials so the burgers are actually better at Hungry Jack’s, to move into that premium burger category. And according to the research, our fries were not delivering.

“They were performing really poorly and since we’ve changed them three weeks ago, the complaints have moved into compliments. These are thicker and they hold their heat better and they have more potato. It’s got seasoning properties in it, rather than just plain regular salt.”

Hungry Jack’s biggest competitor is McDonald’s, which recently launched its Create Your Taste bespoke menu, all-day breakfast, Loaded Fries and The Corner McCafe in Sydney, a healthy cafe which looks nothing like a McDonald’s restaurant.

KFC has also tried to get in on the gourmet burger game this year by launching a Black Zinger burger and a pulled pork burger.

According to data from IBIS World, McDonald’s holds a 39.2 per cent market share, followed by Competitive Foods Australia, which owns Hungry Jack’s and KFC, at 24.8 per cent, and Grill’d at 6.9 per cent (Grill’d founder Simon Crowe is worth an estimated $23 million, according to BRW).

That leaves a whopping 29 per cent left to gourmet burger restaurants and food trucks.

Fast food burger restaurants are expected to struggled over the next fiveyears as consumer tastes become more sophisticated, according to the IBIS World report.

“Consumer preferences are moving towards healthier products, fresh produce and premium ingredients. Operators across the industry are expected to expand menu options to reflect these changes,” the report says.

“Hungry Jack’s focuses on its burger menu and has effectively disregarded the trend towards healthier menus, instead providing fast-food items that target the price-conscious consumer.”

While Mr Baird would not comment on whether Hungry Jack’s plans to introduce healthier options like salads, he said a “more balanced” menu would soon be on its way.

rebecca.sullivan@news.com.au