Blogtown, PDX

Friday, December 29, 2006

Food Burgerville Spotlighted in Forbes

Posted by Amy J. Ruiz on Fri, Dec 29 at 8:46 AM

Burgerville made the next issue of Forbes, in a piece that explores the fast food chain’s “fresh, local, sustainable” vibe.

Being a good citizen is expensive. Burgerville now picks up 95% of the health insurance costs for 385 hourly employees. That adds $1.5 million to its annual compensation bill. It shuns trans fats, and Mears has the restaurants’ used oil converted into biodiesel. He pays $200,000 a year extra for electricity, because his electron currents come from nearby windmills. When Burgerville stopped offering huckleberry milk shakes because Mears decided it was harvesting too many berries, customers were disappointed, but the move became a marketing play. “At first people didn’t care about what was local and sustainable, but now the public is changing,” says Mears.
Mears knows his public. Half of his restaurants are in Portland, Ore., a city that has an Office of Sustainable Development and solar-powered parking meters.

Mmmm, Burgerville.

Permalink

Comments

I love Burgerville even more now, which is hard to do. Their kids meals have actual useful things in them. In the spring they give out little kid-sized gardening tools and seeds. I totally love Burgerville.

Posted by Lynn S. | December 29, 2006 9:56 AM

DISCLAIMER: Burgerville slipped Lynn $100,000 in a burger last week.

Posted by Matt Davis | December 29, 2006 10:09 AM

God I love BV! However, when are they going to open a location DOWNTOWN?? I think it would do amazing business.

Come on Burgerville, take the plunge!

Posted by Murray | December 29, 2006 10:24 AM

If you pass by a Burgerville to pull into a Burger King, you're just simply an asshole. Or a Californian.

Posted by TKrueg | December 29, 2006 10:34 AM

I was tooling around St. Johns last week, trying to decide if we should add to our list of neighborhoods we'd like to live in. When I rounded the corner and saw a Burgerville, I decided we should.

Posted by Amy Jenniges | December 29, 2006 10:37 AM

Dude, BV doesn't NEED to slip me $100k in a burger. A bacon Tillamook burger itself would do it. Or a pumpkin shake. They're so good a few sips is enough. And before anyone makes any comments about my arteries? Doctors have physically looked at my arteries. I've halved the already-low amount of plaque in there since my first heart attack, without taking statins and while basically doubling my consumption of animal proteins and fats. so there, nyah.

Posted by Lynn S. | December 29, 2006 1:56 PM

Yeah but Mickey D's fries are TITS.

Posted by Old McDonald | December 29, 2006 3:05 PM

Holland, the company that owns Burgerville, simply rocks!

Several months ago, I pulled into the Carmen Drive Burgerville to get lunch. After ordering everything, I pulled up to the window only to discover that I had left my wallet at home and I was dead broke at the moment.

After apologizing to the attendant for my stupidity and canceling my order, she conferred with the manager who graciously told me that lunch was on him. OMG, when have you last heard that sort of happening??? :)

Needless to say, I went back and paid for my meal as well as several more since this must happen to other folks, too.

That kind of customer service has locked in a fan for life (me) and I'm pleased to share this experience with others so they know how a business builds loyalty.

Posted by Steve | December 30, 2006 10:55 AM

Comments Closed

In order to combat spam, we are no longer accepting comments on this post (or any post more than 45 days old).