BURGER RANCH- AS KOSHER AS IT NEEDS TO BE?

FROM KOSHER TODAY, OCT. 31, 2011

Burger Ranch is as Kosher as the Demographics

Tel Aviv…If any further proof was necessary that a home grown fast food chain could compete with the mega McDonald’s in a market like Israel, it is happening at Ben Gurion International Airport where a Burger Ranch will replace a McDonald’s. The only question that remains is how kosher it will be. In only four of its more than 100 branches, Burger Ranch offers glatt kosher burgers that Israelis swear is the best in the world. The glatt kosher branches are in Jerusalem, Bnei Brak (where there are two) and Petah Tikva, all are under Bet Yosef supervision. According to Ynet, the Israeli company has won a bid to operate exclusively at the airport for the next seven years.

There are currently some 160 McDonald’s stores in Israel, 36 of which are kosher with none being glatt kosher. Only a McDonald’s in Buenos Aires, Argentina is glatt kosher. Interestingly, Burger Ranch operates many branches that are certified as kosher and some that are not.

Burger Ranch does not sell cheeseburgers, or blatantly non-kosher meats like bacon or non-kosher seafood, as a matter of franchise policy. During Passover, all of the restaurants offer Matzoh instead of the regular buns even in their non-kosher restaurants. A restaurant source in Israel said that Burger Ranch “is a great reader of demographics and knows just how kosher each of their restaurants need to be.” So what are the demographics at Ben Gurion Airport?