Golden Apple

There's Something Electric about Golden Apple

Mark Ordway sees an improvement in the bottom line. Lester Hayes' job is a little easier. The customers can't tell a difference --- they're still eating 1,000 tasty burgers a day at the Burger King in Ozark, Alabama.

They're having it "their" way.

The difference for Ordway and Hayes is the electric broiler the restaurant uses. "The major advantage of electric equipment is the reduced maintenance cost," says Ordway, vice president-operations for Golden Apple Management Company. Golden Apple owns the Ozark location and 29 other Burger Kings in Alabama, Florida and Georgia. Ordway cites two reasons for lower maintenance expenses: "Replacement elements for the electric boiler are about a third the cost of gas burners," he said. "And their lifespan is longer. Also, because the electric broiler has only about half the parts of a gas broiler, it's much easier to clean."

Lester Hayes, a porter and crew member at the Ozark restaurant, can confirm that. It's his job to clean equipment when the Burger King closes at night. "There aren't as many parts to take loose, so it just takes about half the time of the gas broilers," he says.

It's electric!

Ozark was the first restaurant in Golden Apple's chain to have an electric broiler. Ordway has been so pleased with the equipment that he's installed electric broilers in three more restaurants. "In fact, we're going all-electric," he says. "We're building three new restaurants and plan to have a total of about 40 within a few years. New restaurants will have electric broilers, fryers and water heaters. Also, if gas equipment breaks down, we replace it with electric equipment."

Saving dollars makes sense.

"We always project our cost savings in terms of a year, because that's when dollars become significant," Ordway says. "It takes a porter half an hour to clean the electric broiler - half the time of cleaning the gas broiler. At a $5.50 hourly wage, that's only about $2.75. But multiply that by 365 days a year, and you've saved more than $1,000. Factor in another $600 savings on less expensive, more durable elements, and your savings is up to $1,600. With the number of restaurants we have, the cost reduction is appreciable."

Cool kitchens and cool employees.

In addition to cutting costs, electric broilers offer another advantage. "Walking through the kitchen, you can tell it's 10-15 degrees cooler around the electric broiler than it was near the gas broiler," Ordway says. "When the gas broiler was operating, you couldn't touch the outside of it. With the electric one, you can."

Cooler kitchens translate into more comfortable, productive crew members in Golden Apple's Burger King franchises. This is important to Ordway, who knows the importance of attracting and keeping good employees.

"Our biggest challenge today is people," he says. "The company needs to improve efficiency levels any way we can. The more time-saving devices we can give employees, the better we can serve our guests," he says.

Ordway, who's been in the Burger King business 17 years, was initially skeptical of switching to electric equipment. "My early experience with electric broilers was horrible," he admits. "But the technology has improved dramatically. And the Southern Company representatives, Robert Smith of Alabama Power and Ann Kruse-Percival of Gulf Power, do a marvelous job of taking care of their customers. Before we got involved, we had no idea the power companies provided services like lighting surveys and energy audits."

"With the electric equipment, grease drips on a special coating on the broiler elements. This gives the Whoppers and our other burgers the true flame broiling that's Burger King's trademark," Ordway says. "And we can cook as many burgers at a time as we could with the old broilers."

For Golden Apple, electric broilers are helping cut costs, helping keep employees happy, and still satisfying customers. That's a good day's work in any business.