Have It Your Way – Delivered: Burger King Tries Home Delivery

Have it your way has always been Burger King's motto.  Now, you might be able to have it your way AND have it delivered right to your door.

Burger King, the No. 2 burger chain, has quietly begun testing home delivery of its burgers, fries and other sandwiches since fall at four of its restaurants in the greater Washington, D.C., area, with an eye on expanding beyond that.

Home delivery?  For burgers?  It might seem like a strange concept - but - home delivery for pizza was once a foreign idea, too.  And, look what the delivery man has done for the pizza business.

Should home delivery catch on for the burger giants — as it has for the pizza kingpins — it could be an industry changer. But it runs counter to long-held consumer perception that fast-food burgers and fries travel poorly — and don't warm up well in the microwave. It also would require millions of hungry folks to change their at-home eating habits. "There are some real food-quality issues here," says Ron Paul, president of research firm Technomic. "But there's no question that consumer expectation for having things delivered has risen."

But what about cold, soggy food?  Pizza's are one thing - but burgers?  Will tge general public be accepting of burgers that have been shop-worn by a delivery man?

Well, Burger King has developed a "proprietary thermal packaging technology," says Jonathan Fitzpatrick, chief brand and operations officer for Burger King, "which ensures the Whopper is delivered hot and fresh, and the french fries are delivered hot and crispy."

If home delivery DOES catch on, it'll obviously come with a catch.  In this case,  that catch is a higher cost.

There's a $2 delivery fee. And depending on the store (three in Maryland and one in Virginia), minimum orders vary from $8 to $10.

The stores try to deliver within 30 minutes of the time a phone or online order is received. Delivery customers must live within a 10-minute drive of the store. All soft-drink orders are in bottles. And breakfast items are not delivered. Delivery times are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Burger King tries home delivery – USATODAY.com.