| Grill'd | |
| Type: | Private with subsidiary and franchise locations |
| Location: | Melbourne |
| Hq Location City: | Victoria |
| Hq Location Country: | Australia |
| Locations: | 150+ |
| Industry: | Restaurant |
| Products: | |
| Owner: | Simon Crowe |
| Num Employees: | 4,500+ |
Grill'd is an Australian-owned multinational casual dining restaurant chain specializing in healthier, quick service burgers, both for dine-in and takeaway. Founded by Simon Crowe in 2004, located in Hawthorn, Melbourne,[1] the company has expanded to 172 locations across Australia and one in Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia. [2] Grill'd offers a variety of meat and plant-based burgers, chips and salads, focusing on fresh, local sourced, and ethically raised ingredients.
The company is known for its community initiatives, such as the Local Matters program, which supports local community groups through monthly donations. Grill'd has also launched sustainability efforts, including being the first Australian restaurant group to eliminate plastic straws and partnering with environmental organisations to offset carbon emissions.
Grill'd has faced controversies about labour practices and wage disputes, including allegations of underpaying staff and misusing government apprenticeship programs. Despite these issues, Grill'd remains a prominent player in the Australia and New Zealand's fast-food industry, ranking as the eighth-most popular fast food restaurant in New Zealand in 2018. [3]
The chain was founded after Simon Crowe expressed frustration with a lack of "decent burgers" in Australia and wanted an enticing, nutritious meal combined with the engaging service ethic he often encountered living in Milwaukee, United States, while working for brewing company Fosters.[4]
By 2006, two years after its founding, Grill'd had over 30 restaurants across Melbourne. In 2011, Grill'd launched its Local Matters program where each customer is provided a token per burger to vote for one of three restaurant-specific local community groups. At the end of each month, $500 per restaurant is donated among the three community groups, totaling over $750,000 each year in donations.[5] As of September 2021, Grill'd has given over $6 million to over 30,000 local community groups, organisations, and projects.[6]
Since 2010, all of the company's beef and lamb have been grass-fed and free-range,[7] and in 2016 all of their chicken became RSPCA Approved. In 2019 Grill'd launched Beyond Meat's plant-based meat-tasting patty with a "Meat Free Day". In November 2021, Grill'd launched the Impossible Foods plant-based meat-tasting burgers.[8]
Grill'd launched an Emu & Kangaroo burger, The Coat of Arms[9] in 2013, a rabbit burger, Bunny Burger[10] in 2017, and their Healthy Fried Chicken[11] in 2020.
In 2019, Grill'd opened its first international restaurant, in Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia.[12] The restaurant extended the company's Local Matters program internationally, supporting Seminyak's local community groups by sharing Rp2,500,000 with three local groups each month.
In May 2023, Grill'd opened its first halal-certified restaurant in Blacktown. The restaurant serves meat sourced from halal-certified suppliers, removes bacon from products, and does not serve alcohol.[13] 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.[14]
In June 2023, Grill'd opened its first drive-through restaurant in Mount Ommaney.[15]
The Grill'd Local Matters program started in 2011 as a way for each restaurant to support local community groups. Three jars are placed in each restaurant, each representing a group to donate to. Tokens are handed out to customers, who place them in the jar of their choice. The jar with the most tokens receives the largest donation. As of September 2021, the program had given back over $6,000,000 to local community groups,[16] including over $120,000 to help tackle homelessness, and over $800,000 to health and disability groups. The program has supported over 30,000 community groups, organisations, and projects including local sports groups, youth organisations, educational services, animal welfare, and environmental groups.
Grill'd participated in Movember from 2006 to 2011, offering a free burger for anyone who grew a ‘Mo', and later became a sponsor of Polished Man,[17] gifting burgers to guests who donated to the cause.
Additionally, the Grill'd Relish membership program gives members a free burger after eight visits which they can take themselves, or give to those in need through the work of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul,[18] also known as Vinnies.
During the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season, Grill'd ran several programs to raise funds for the Vinnies Bushfire relief. Grill'd started a charity initiative on Instagram,[19] donating 10 c for every like the post received. Throughout the 2020 Australian Open, Grill'd matched every ace Nick Kyrgios served with a $200 donation.[20] 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.
Grill'd has an Australian-first sourcing promise and works with local farmers and suppliers to keep food miles low and ensure fresh ingredients.[21] The company's beef and lamb have been grass-fed and free-range since 2010,[7] their chicken became RSPCA Approved[7] in 2016, and the restaurant uses free-range eggs as of 2024, after previously sourcing cage-free.[22] Grill'd offers higher welfare meats and vegetarian and vegan options, as well as options for other dietary preferences such as flexitarianism, paleo, gluten-free and low-carb.[23] In 2017, Grill'd partnered with the RSPCA to raise awareness about the suffering of hens confined to battery cages as part of the RSPCA's End the Battery Cage campaign.[23]
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.[24] The Grill'd HFC Burgers are significantly lower in kilojoules per 100 g than other fried chicken burgers and offer several other nutritional benefits.[25]
HFC includes no artificial colours, flavours and preservatives; are gluten-free, cooked in Australian extra virgin olive oil, made with higher welfare RSPCA approved chicken breast, and free from added hormones or chemicals.
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.[5]
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.[26]
In November 2021, Grill'd was the first national restaurant chain to launch Impossible Foods Impossible Beef in Australia. To support the launch, Australian comedy duo The Inspired Unemployed revealed the new ‘meat' with an OnlyFans account.[27]
In 2013, the Coat of Arms Burger was launched ahead of Australia Day, with all-Australian ingredients, including a meat patty made from the two animals represented on the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, the kangaroo and emu.
In 2017 Grill'd launched the ‘Bunny Burger' with a rabbit patty to celebrate Easter.[10] In 2018, Grill'd revealed a new Bunny Burger made with 100% vegan ingredients.[28]
In 2018, Three Blue Ducks' Darren Robertson created a Splendour in the Grass Burger[29] to celebrate Byron Bay produce. The burger featured slow-cooked belly pork from Bangalow Sweet Pork[30] (a producer just outside of Byron), fennel and cabbage slaw with finger lime mayo, and smoked sea salt from South Australia's Eyre Peninsula. The burger was on sale in selected Grill'd restaurants around Australia until July 23, 2018, and the Grill'd Burger Park during Splendour in the Grass on July 21–23. In 2020, to celebrate their activations at the Australian Open, Grill'd launched the Grand Slam Burger, featuring avocado, pineapple, bacon, RSPCA Approved chicken breast and sweet chili mayo.[31] The burger was available at select Grill'd restaurants in Melbourne, and at the Grand Slam Oval and Ballpark pop-ups at the Australian Open.[32]
In August 2020, Grill'd announced their menu of burgers, sides, and sauces were all natural with no artificial colours, flavours and preservatives (except Beyond Burgers, Bacon and Vegan cheese), marked by the launch of their "100% Natural" campaign.[33] It was reported that the company worked with independent nutritionist body, Food and Nutrition Australia, to review the burger menu, reformulating the ingredients to remove any artificial additives and to further reduce kilojoules and sugars, resulting in 73% of their burgers providing less than a third of the daily energy intake for adults.[33]
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 containing a panko crumbed and deep-fried lamb brain, charcoal bun, oak leaf lettuce, tomato, rhubarb, beetroot ketchup, and a 'brainnaise’ sauce. The burgers sold out within hours across the country and the campaign was shortlisted in the Mumbrella CommsCon Awards for Best Use of Owned Media.[34]
In 2023, Grill'd launched a burger with a pink bun alongside the release of Barbie. It was called the Barbie Dreamburger, and came as a combo that included a pink Sodaly soft drink, and chips. [35]
Partnerships & sponsorships
Grill'd has been a Premium Partner of the Melbourne Storm NRL Club, since 2020, and in the first year of partnership, Grill'd supported Storm on their journey to win their fourth Premiership.[36] In commemoration of the partnership, Grill'd created a Storm Burger exclusively for members and fans.[37] Six of the Storm players had a hand in developing the combination for the Storm Burger: Brandon Smith, Christian Welch, Cooper Johns, Harry Grant, Josh Addo-Carr and Ryan Papenhuyzen.
Grill'd has been the healthy eating 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.[38]
Grill'd were the one of the first restaurant group in Australia to go plastic straw-free in 2018, saving 1.7 million plastic straws from landfill[39] each year. Takeaway packaging paper and cardboard, knife sleeves, and kids pack packaging is PEFC and FSC Certified, which comes from sustainably planted forests.[40]
In 2021, Grill'd partnered with not-for-profit environmental organisation Greenfleet as part of the company's Tree Day Tuesday initiative,[41] aiming to plant 10 forests by 2022 that will be protected for 100 years. Every Tuesday, $1 from every burger purchased by a Grill'd Relish member goes towards planting trees, working with the Dja Dja Wurrung people to offset carbon emissions.
Grill'd was named one of Australia's top 10 brands in the 2021 Forces of Good Report,[42] and the number 1 brand in the food category for Corporate Social Responsibility which analysed 190 brands.[43]
Grill'd has recycled over 660,000 litres of cooking oil to create biodiesel, and has converted 62 of its restaurants to green power.[44]
In June 2015, it came to public attention that a franchise in Toowong had selected pro-life 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.[45]
The restaurant chain encountered controversy in July 2015 when 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 to overturn a contract which set pay below the minimum award rate. Grill'd officially denied the allegations, claiming that her bullying of managers was the reason for the dismissal.[46] Pyrah launched a Federal Court case in a bid to get her job back.[47] An interim Federal Court ruling ordered Grill'd to reinstate her, allowing the wage case hearing to go ahead.[48] At the hearing, a ruling by the Fair Work Commission forced Grill'd to raise the wages of employees at its Camberwell franchise to the minimum award rate. Jess Walsh of the hospitality union United Voice said that the ruling was an "enormous win" for Pyrah and Grill'd employees.[49] A planned dismissal hearing at the Federal Court was called off after Pyrah and Grill'd reached an out-of-court settlement.[50]
In 2019, serious allegations were made against Grill'd by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age concerning misuse of government subsidies to reduce staffing expenses.[51] [52] [53] The coverage also included allegations of serious food safety concerns at 1-in-10 company-owned Grill'd restaurants. Allegations also included franchises being mistreated by the company, and founder Simon Crowe falsifying signatures of his business partner on two liquor licenses.
In 2022, it was revealed that Grill'd had been the largest user of an Australian Government COVID-19 apprenticeship program. Approximately $16.6 million had been granted to Grill'd for 2,800 employees to be part of their "hamburger university" trainee- ship program.[54]
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" trainee-ship program in order to pay decreased wages to trainees.[55]