Dive Brief:
- Burger King’s multi-year turnaround campaign gained speed in Q2 2026, with the brand driving 8.5% comparable sales growth in the U.S., according to Restaurant Brands International’s earnings release. This is the first time the burger chain reported 8% growth in U.S. same-store sales since Q2 2023.
- Popeyes’ sales troubles continued, with a 5.2% drop in U.S. comps in the quarter. But this decline was a moderation compared to the brand’s 6.5% decline in Q1.
- RBI is investing in both brands to sustain Burger King’s momentum and revive Popeyes’ fortunes, CEO Joshua Kobza said.
Dive Insight:
The most recent changes as part of Burger King’s major turnaround have focused on marketing shifts, menu improvements and in-restaurant changes in labor.
In March, Burger King launched a new marketing program recentered on the guest. As part of that campaign, the brand fired its King mascot and dubbed consumers the chain’s mascot. The chain also updated its Whopper buns, mayonnaise and packaging, a move that Kobza said helped drive a 20% increase in Whopper sales volumes. The chain also redefined its restaurant general manager role in July, renaming the position the “Your Way Champion.”
That change means “putting the guest experience first and making things right whenever needed, and if a guest’s Whopper isn't up to our standards, we'll remake it with the next one on us,” Kobza said.
These changes helped Burger King beat U.S. burger QSR sales growth benchmarks by more than 9%, Kobza claimed.
The brand still had several years worth of remodels to complete in the U.S. before the whole brand had a modernized image, Kobza said. This could provide a continuous tailwind for the chain as renovations have typically driven significant sales gains under the Reclaim the Flame program.
According to the brand’s earnings release, RBI has dedicated $194 million out of a planned $550 million to the Royal Reset, the remodel portion of Reclaim the Flame.
The Burger King turnaround is far from finished, Patrick Doyle, RBI’s chairman said.
“We continue to see opportunities to elevate the menu, strengthen operations, and keep raising standards across the system,” Doyle said. “There are still meaningful parts of the business we haven't yet transformed, which gives me confidence there's plenty of runway ahead.”
Popeyes has even further to go in its brand turnaround. The chain has posted same-store sales declines in the U.S. across seven of the last eight quarters. RBI has attributed those problems to an overreliance on limited-time offers, an eroding value proposition and loss of focus on the chain’s core menu. The company has moved executives with experience in Burger King’s brand turnaround over to Popeyes in the last year.
RBI is working on “improving operations and service, refocusing on our core menu, and strengthening our value proposition,” at Popeyes, Kobza said Thursday.
The chain reworked its chicken tender specifications in the quarter and is using operations coaching and training to improve store-level operations.
The chain has seen consumer satisfaction across core menu items tick up, as well as a reduction in errors and customer complaints, Kobza said.
On value, Popeyes has in recent quarters added its $5 Faves menu and a $20 family meal bundle. In June, the chain brought back its $6 Big Box. These moves, Kobza said, have helped stabilize traffic and sales and RBI believes it is well-positioned to see positive comps growth at Popeyes later this year.
