At the height of its success in the first decade of the 2000s, the fast-food chain Burger King had over 50 branches in Israel. But before long, the picture changed. All the branches were consolidated into the Burger Ranch chain, which shared ownership, and the brand disappeared.
It had a further incarnation in the middle of the past decade, with a few branches, and in early 2022, Delek Group took the reins as the chain franchisee and started afresh. “In ten years’ time we’ll have more than 100 branches,” says CEO Dana Tuchner in an interview eight months after she took up the post.
The idea, she explains, is to exploit the widespread distribution of Delek Israel’s fuel stations and, at the same time, to enter commercial centers in new neighborhoods built in Israel in recent years.
“If I want to get into the commercial center of a neighborhood that is being built, I have to start competing for the spot four to five years in advance,” she says.
“We have to put our foot in the door before someone else takes advantage of the opportunity and gets there instead of us. If we don’t get the right locations now, we’ll pay for it later.”
Competition with McDonald’s
In the past few years, many players have entered the hamburger market, but the great rival in Israel and around the world has been and remains McDonald’s, with over 200 branches in Israeli. It’s no coincidence that these two chains launched social media campaigns this month that are similar in substance and style. Burger Ranch consists of two clips featuring web influencer Omer Hikri.
In the clip launched this week (produced by the Diboor agency), Hikri is presented as a drama king. “The clip arose out of the perception of Generation Z as an audience that expresses feelings unapologetically,” says Tuchner. “It’s a campaign that views the desire for food not as something functional, but as a genuine emotional experience.”
“We’re in a small country, and we’re in the same world, so you’ll always find something similar in your area. I don’t think there’s only room for one trend-setting product, and we’re not in competition with or racing anyone. We want to succeed as a brand.”
Burger King does not disclose its turnover. It currently has eighteen branches from Ramon to Haifa. Six of them are open on Saturdays. The plan for 2026 is to open at least six new branches. The first was opened in Haifa, and three more will be opened on the coast road, in the Krayot, and in the Ono valley, at an investment of about NIS 2 million each.
Seven more branches are planned for 2027. “They’ll be in locations such as the Narkisim neighborhood in Rishon LeZion, areas with young families, schools, kindergartens, places where there’s everyday life and a community,” says Tuchner. “My aspiration is that the chain will be under people’s homes, in their neighborhood, or in the commercial center.”
And what about traditional locations on food concourses in shopping malls? “I don’t rule any location out,” says Tuchner, “It all depends on how relevant it is.”
Tuchner’s strategy holds that, rather than expanding the menu, it’s better to make ad hoc additions that respond to consumer behavior. “We have seen, for example, that the world is tending towards sharing, so we came up with the bucket: 20 nuggets in one product that everyone can share. That comes from the territory, not from the laboratory,” she says. She also plans a collaboration with Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.
Another direction is products aimed at children, such as collaborations with throwback brands like the Ninja Turtles, designed to appeal to parents as well. “When a child comes to a branch with its parent, all of a sudden, they get talking about the toy. It’s something that connects them and makes their time together enjoyable. The father remembers the Ninja Turtles from his childhood; the child rediscovers them through us.”
The connection with the global chain, she says, is both an advantage and a limitation. “On the one hand, they understand that we’re a unique market and they grant us flexibility, but on the other hand, there’s very strict quality control. We send them data on meat temperatures, refrigerators, and food samples, and if you don’t meet the standards, you simply can’t continue to be a franchisee.”
Marketing to the TikTok generation
Tuchner knows the hamburger sector intimately. “My father owned a meat restaurant, I myself studied culinary sciences overseas, and twenty years ago I set up the Burgers chain that was sold to the BBB group,” she relates.
If the geographical deployment is Burger King’s new skeleton, then marketing is what is supposed to breathe life into it, and that is where the most significant change lies, according to Tuckner. “I come from an entirely different generation of marketing. There’s a gap between what I did when I set up Burgers and what the TikTok generation expects.
“It’s not my way of talking and not my language. I would be distributing flyers and magnets from door to door, but the young audience has had an impact on everything. If you’re not in front of their eyes, you simply don’t exist.”
She says that she came to Burger King through people at Delek Israel who knew her and approached her several times. “They offered me the job, which sounded very interesting to me. I lived in New York for almost a decade, and the brand became rooted in me at that time. Together with my experience, it was a piece that fitted the puzzle, and I said to myself, ‘Bingo.'”
In recent years, Delek Israel has expanded beyond its traditional core activity to become a broader retail platform. Among other things, the company holds the Cup ‘O’ Joe chain and the Zappa clubs. Tuchner says that Burger King (in which Delek Israel holds a 93% stake) fits naturally into this tapestry.
“Delek Group has power. We have a strong customer club, Delek Joe, and customers can be offered many benefits through the app. That way, we are helped not just by Delek’s locations, but also by the group’s other assets.”
“Let’s put it this way,” Tuchner said. “They wouldn’t invest millions in a failing chain. Every branch costs several million, and we don’t stint. We bring equipment from Europe, specifically contractors, consultants, everything in accordance with the standards of the global chain.”
