| Grill'd | |
| Type: | Private with subsidiary and franchise locations |
| Location: | Melbourne |
| Hq Location City: | Victoria |
| Hq Location Country: | Australia |
| Locations: | 150+ |
| Industry: | Restaurant Franchising |
| Products: |
|
| Owner: | Simon Crowe |
| Num Employees: | 4,500+ |
Grill'd is an Australian-owned multinational casual dining restaurant chain specialising in burgers. The chain was founded by Simon Crowe in 2004 and was initially located in Hawthorn, Melbourne.[1] The company has 172 locations across Australia and one in Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia.[2] Although classified as a fast food chain, they have historically rejected this idea, and have tried to maintain that they are healthier than standard fast food chains and so should not be grouped alongside them.
Grill'd has faced criticism for its labour practices and wage disputes, including allegations of underpaying staff and misusing government apprenticeship programs.
Simon Crowe founded Grill'd in 2004.[3] He wanted to provide quality food and replicate the "engaging service ethic" that he saw in Milwaukee, United States while working for the brewing company Fosters.[4]
Since 2010, all of the company's beef and lamb have been grass-fed and free-range, and in 2016 their chicken became RSPCA Approved.[5] In November 2021, Grill'd began serving Impossible Burgers.[6]
In 2019, Grill'd opened its first international restaurant, in Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia.[7]
In May 2023, Grill'd opened a halal-certified restaurant in Blacktown, New South Wales. The restaurant served meat sourced from halal-certified suppliers, removed bacon from products, and did not serve alcohol.[8] As of May 2024, the Blacktown Grill'd is no longer halal. The company now provides halal meat (excluding bacon) to all franchises without restaurant-level certification.[9]
In June 2023, Grill'd opened its first drive-through restaurant in Mount Ommaney, Queensland.[10] Since then, in August 2024,[11] a second drive-through restaurant was opened in Chadstone, Victoria.[12]
In 2011, Grill'd created the Local Matters program, which supports local community groups through monthly donations.[13] [14]
Grill'd participated in the Polished Man Campaign in 2016.[15]
The restaurant in Seminyak, Bali extended the company's Local Matters program internationally, supporting Seminyak's local community groups by sharing Rp2,500,000 (equivalent to approximately AU$260 in December 2019)[16] with three local groups each month.
During the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season, Grill'd matched every ace Nick Kyrgios served in the 2020 Australian Open with a $200 donation to bushfire relief.[17] In February 2020, Grill'd donated $2 for every burger a Relish Member bought, and another $2 for every new member signed up, raising a total of $236,302.
In 2020, Grill'd launched "Healthy Fried Chicken" with HFC Bites in a campaign targeted at fast food chain KFC, offering all KFC employees free HFC Bites when they visit a Grill'd store in their uniform. Following this release, in 2021 Grill'd expanded its fried chicken line with HFC Burgers and publicly released its "No Secrets" recipe for their Healthy Fried Chicken.[18]
In 2019, Monday, April 15, Grill'd hosted the "24 Hour Meat Cheat", serving only meat-free options to launch the Beyond Meat Burgers onto their menu.
In July 2021, Grill'd, in collaboration with the company Fable and British chef Heston Blumenthal, created three new plant-based burgers with patties from mushroom-based protein.[19]
Despite claiming their burgers to be preservative free[20] their menu states that their bacon contains sodium nitrite.[21] [22]
In 2017, Grill'd launched the 'Bunny Burger' with a rabbit patty to celebrate Easter and sold a vegan version of the burger in 2018.[23]
In 2021, Grill'd partnered with streaming service Binge to launch season 10 of The Walking Dead with a limited edition burger available in each state of Australia. The campaign was shortlisted in the Mumbrella CommsCon Awards for Best Use of Owned Media.[24]
In 2023, Grill'd launched a burger with a pink bun alongside the release of Barbie called the "Barbie Dreamburger."[25]
Partnerships & sponsorships
Grill'd has partnered with the Melbourne Storm NRL Club since 2020.[26] In commemoration of the partnership, Grill'd created a "Storm Burger" in 2021.[27]
Grill'd has been a partner of the Melbourne Boomers since the 2020 season. Boomers General Manager, Christy Collier-Hill said "we're so excited to welcome Grill'd as a team sponsor for WNBL Season 2020 and we are looking forward to a very healthy, long-term partnership.[28]
In 2022, Grill'd announced a four-year sponsorship of the Australian Institute of Sport. The Winter Olympics gold-medallist Jakara Anthony was chosen to be a Grill'd ambassador for this sponsorship of the AIS. [29]
Grill'd announced a partnership with Australian Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Harry Garside in 2024, and have since sponsored him.
In 2021, Grill'd partnered with not-for-profit environmental organisation Greenfleet as part of the company's Tree Day Tuesday initiative.[30]
Grill'd was named one of Australia's top 10 brands in the 2021 Forces of Good Report,[31] and the number 1 brand in the food category for Corporate Social Responsibility which analysed 190 brands.[32]
Grill'd has recycled over 660,000 litres of cooking oil to create biodiesel, and has converted 62 of its restaurants to green power.[33]
In June 2015, a franchise in Toowong selected anti-abortion group Cherish Life to receive funds from the Local Matters program. Founder Simon Crowe apologised for the alleged mistake, stating that Grill'd is pro-choice.[34]
In July 2015 allegations arose that Kahlani Pyrah, a former employee of a franchise in Camberwell, had been removed from her position after beginning a wage case with the Fair Work Commission for being paid below minimum wage. Grill'd officially denied the allegations, claiming that her bullying of managers was the reason for the dismissal.[35] Pyrah launched a Federal Court case in a bid to get her job back.[36] An interim Federal Court ruling ordered Grill'd to reinstate her, allowing the wage case hearing to go ahead.[37] At the hearing, the Fair Work Commission forced the Grill'd Camberwell franchise to raise employee pay to the minimum wage. Jess Walsh of the hospitality union United Voice said that the ruling was an "enormous win" for Pyrah and Grill'd employees.[38] A planned dismissal hearing at the Federal Court was called off after Pyrah and Grill'd reached an out-of-court settlement.[39]
In 2019 it was discovered that Grill'd was underpaying employees by exploiting traineeship loopholes, siphoning millions in wages each year.[40] [41] [42] The coverage also included allegations of serious food safety concerns at 1-in-10 company-owned Grill'd restaurants, franchises being mistreated by the company, and founder Simon Crowe falsifying signatures of his business partner on two liquor licenses. [43]
In 2022, it was revealed that Grill'd used $16.6 million (granted by the Australian Government's COVID-19 apprenticeship program) to make 2,800 employees a part of their "hamburger university" traineeship program,[44] which they had used to underpay workers.
In October 2024, United Workers Union members and employees of a Grill'd location in Melbourne went on strike, claiming that Grill'd was forcing staff into their "hamburger university" traineeship program in order to pay decreased wages to trainees.[45]
| City | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melbourne | Balaclava | Camberwell | Casey | Chirnside Park | Degraves Street | Elsternwick | Flinders Lane | Glen Waverley | Heatherton | Knox | Melbourne Central | Mornington | |
| Bundoora | Carlton | Chadstone Centre | Collingwood | Doncaster | Eltham | Fountain Gate | Hampton | Highpoint | Malvern | Melbourne Emporium | Northland | ||
| Burwood | Carnegie | Chadstone Village | Croydon | Eastland | Fairfield | Frankston | Hawthorn | Karingal | Melbourne Airport | Moonee Ponds | Plenty Valley | ||
| Point Cook | South Melbourne | South Yarra | Watergardens | Woodgrove | QV Shopping Centre | Southern Cross | Southland | Werribee | Yarraville | Richmond | Southgate | ||
| Tunstall Square | Windsor | ||||||||||||
| Ballarat | Ballarat | ||||||||||||
| Bendigo | Bendigo | ||||||||||||
| Geelong | Waurn Ponds | Pakington Street | |||||||||||
| City | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brisbane | Ascot | Camp Hill | Everton Park | Logan Hyperdome | South Bank | |
| Browns Plains | Carindale | Fairfield Gardens | Mount Ommaney | Springfield | ||
| Bulimba | Chermside | Garden City | Newmarket | Toowong | ||
| Burpengary | Emporium | Indooroopilly | North Lakes | Victoria Point | ||
| Cannon Hill | Eatons Hill | Kenmore | Rosalie | Wintergarden | ||
| Cairns | Cairns Esplanade | Cairns Central | ||||
| Gold Coast | Benowa Gardens | Coolangatta | Harbour Town | Nobby Beach | ||
| Robina | Surfers Paradise | Upper Coomera | Pacific Fair | |||
| Sunshine Coast | Kawana | Noosa | Sunshine Plaza | |||
| Townsville | Townsvillle | Fairfield Central | The Willows | |||
| Toowoomba | Toowoomba | |||||