Fatburger, Johnny Rockets owner takes a bite out of inflation: ‘Not fair’ to jam consumers with higher prices

Inflation in America remains high, but one restaurant company has defied the odds and successfully opened a company-record 142 restaurants in 2022, amounting to over 2,300 locations worldwide.

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Despite the unprecedented success, Fat Brands CEO Andy Wiederhorn is steadfast in pursuing his fight with inflation, saying Friday that the company is doing "whatever [they] can to lower food costs" for consumers. 

"You have to give value to the consumer. You can't just say to the consumer, hey, we raised our price for a hamburger by a dollar today, and you should pay that price because everybody else has raised their price by a dollar. You got to give them some value," Wiederhorn explained during an appearance on "Mornings with Maria."

"Figure out what that is. Whether that's discounting in something or giving them two for one, some other kind of a deal, on a special limited-time basis. Just to make them feel appreciated because it's not fair to just jam them with higher prices," he continued.

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Fat Brands is a top global franchising company that develops fast-casual and casual dining concepts. Currently, Fat Brands owns 17 different franchises, including Johnny Rockets, Fatburger, Great American Cookies, Twin Peaks and more. In 2022, Fat Brands opened more than 140 restaurants and expects to "grow rapidly" in 2023, setting the bar exceptionally high.

"We are growing rapidly. We will open 175 more restaurants this year coming off the heels of 2022, where we opened more than 140. So very, very strong demand by franchise partners to open more restaurants. Huge pipeline. We have 1,000 stores in our pipeline to build over the next five years. So really excited about that," Wiederhorn said Friday.

Commercial real estate continues to be a source of concern for many business owners, however, Wiederhorn remained firm that his company has seen solid demand.

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"We're really seeing demand. We have over 100 restaurants under construction right now, and we'll hit 175 by the end of the year. So franchisees are going out, and they're leasing locations. If they can get a better deal because prices are lower, good for them. And it just makes the long-term deal an even better equation," he told Maria Bartiromo.

Wiederhorn concluded by paying homage to consumers, attributing the company's "incredible" pandemic bounce back to customers' desire to dive back into the restaurant industry.

"The bounce back from COVID levels was incredible. We saw customers coming out to the restaurants in flocks everywhere. And so in our sports bars like Twin Peaks, or our burger restaurants like Johnny Rockets, or Fatburger, or Round Table Pizza, we really saw customers coming to the restaurants again instead of just doing delivery and to-go," he said.

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"That was a great experience to see people wanting to be out and in restaurants. And I think that just drives the narrative of franchisees wanting. They're seeing the restaurants fall. They want to build more stores. They have commitments to build more stores. We're going to grow our profitability – our EBITDA – from $90 million approximately last year, to up to $150 million over the next few years as we build out that thousands of our pipeline. So it's a big opportunity for us," he explained. 

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