How the 'better burger' is taking over the world
Burgers used to be fast and cheap - the epitome of fast food. But now a different type of patty exported from the US is rapidly expanding across the globe. What's driving the rise of the so called "better burger"?
"What's fascinating", observes Paul Reynish, chief executive of US burger chain Five Guys International, is "the complete fundamental change" that has taken place with people prepared to pay more and wait longer for a more upmarket burger.
We're speaking via phone whilst he's in the firm's Belfast restaurant, doing what he calls "product calibration" - where the firm tries to match US ingredients not available or allowed under EU laws with local alternatives.
Making sure its overseas burgers taste the same as those in the US is important, he says.
"Unless you have consistency there is no brand... you've got to have some confidence that the burger you have in Dubai and Paris is the same as the one you have in California and Miami," he says.