Burger King Nuggets Up 35%, Demands Parade

Burger King nugget sales are up about 35%, according to RBI chief executive Josh Kobza on the company’s third-quarter earnings call. The recipe was overhauled in August. The customers noticed. The math, at last, has been done.

Nugenomics is now a field of study, and this is its founding data point.

The Hypothesis: Make It Better

For years the prevailing theory held that a nugget is a nugget and the customer will eat whatever is in the box. This desk never believed it. Burger King just ran the experiment at national scale: improve the nugget, and people buy more nuggets. Peer review is pending, but the sales line is not subtle.

The chain also reported U.S. same-store sales up 8.4% for the quarter, with the improved Whopper and the improved nugget credited for the momentum. Somewhere a Whopper is being asked to share a podium with a bite-sized rival and is handling it poorly.

The Rival Redesign Theory

Nugenomics holds that a redesigned nugget is the cheapest growth strategy in fast food. No new building. No celebrity. No collectible magnet. Just a better nugget, placed in a box, delivered to the public.

Competitors are presumably studying the findings in a windowless room. Several of them redesign their nuggets every few years and insist each one is different. Burger King’s number suggests that when it is actually different, the market responds.

The Victory Lap

The lap has not been officially announced, but the conditions are met. A 35% rise in nuggets means a great many people, independently and without coordination, decided to be nugget people. The remaining holdouts are urged to review their position.

Mr. Editor’s view on the matter is, as always, classified. The $NUG ticker is not classified. It is up, and it is not taking questions.