Casey Biehl Leads BurgerFi Franchise Reboot With Back-to-Basics Strategy

Casey Biehl brings experience from the hospitality world, including Caesars Entertainment, where he helped launch concepts like Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen in Dubai.

• He was a licensee for several brands, including Nobu, Cake Boss, and Gordon Ramsay.
• This experience helped him understand the franchisor side and what they look for in a partner.

Biehl and his team originally sought BurgerFi locations to quickly scale their Savvy Sliders concept in Florida, but the plan shifted once they saw potential in the brand.

• They decided to go back to where it started — great products, no hormones, no antibiotics, a brand you can trust.
• BurgerFi had massaged the quality down and raised prices, so Biehl's team took out the middle part of the brand's lifecycle and went back to the beginning.

The turnaround strategy includes reintroducing BurgerFi's original 75/25 Wolverine burger blend, investing in franchisee support and operations, exploring smaller footprints with drive-thrus, and even evaluating co-branding opportunities.

• Biehl is still working on an FDD for BurgerFi and is evaluating drive-thrus.
• The company is shrinking footprints, formerly 3,500 to 4,000 square feet, down to as low as possible.
• A modular group presented a 1,200-square-foot version with a walk-up window and drive-thru.

Biehl has several initiatives currently underway as part of BurgerFi's reset strategy.

• He's never been more excited about the brand's potential.
• The company is entering catering and getting rid of seed oil.
• There's a huge opportunity for organic awareness through the FDA.
• Biehl is blown away by how great the BurgerFi franchisees are, and they still love the brand and want to grow.