Burger Urge co-founder Sean Carthew heads up what he describes as an “18-year-old start-up”. 

It’s a business that has evolved during the years, to cater for an ever-widening cohort of customers, yet always true to its core values: authenticity, good quality and intrinsic value.

“I’m still learning, I don’t wake up and feel like I know everything,” Sean admits. “Hospitality is a people business, it’s a team sport, and it’s been an educational journey to get where we are today.”

At face value it’s an unlikely journey for someone whose career was in commercial real estate. 

“My brother and I both worked for Silvio’s Pizza co-founder, Fel Bevacqua. He had bought in Competitive Foods’ Jack Cowin, bought the rights to the Domino’s brand and converted the business to an IPO.

“Fel went into cafes and hospitality businesses and we worked in a little cafe on James Street, learned about the Domino’s story, and met Jack.”

The experience proved a catalyst for the Carthew brothers to create a business for themselves.

“We grew up in a family business; our parents were in textile manufacturing. We wanted to do something ourselves and connect our retail and hospitality experiences,” Sean says.

Spotting a gap in the market

At the time, there was a real buzz about the exciting and emerging gourmet burger concept, particularly in Melbourne.

“I saw a gap in the market, and it sounded like fun. And no-one was doing this in Queensland,” Sean explains. 

“If you look at the proliferation of fast food over the last half century, there has been commercial success but also some downsides: there are cheap, fast and poor quality burger offers in the sector.”

Sean wanted to provide a genuine alternative to the budget burgers without heading into the area of fine dining.

“I looked at how fast food was done, and I saw an opportunity to reimagine our category. The burger sector turned into fast food, but didn’t start as that. I wanted to turn it on its head.”

And it worked. Sean based the burger brand on top quality and authenticity.

The business started as a 50sqm takeaway shop in Fortitude Valley which couldn’t keep up with demand.

“We sold out daily, demand just exploded ” Sean says. “We didn’t have the equipment, the space, or the experience to cater to the market. 

“So for about five years we really didn’t know what we were doing. It was really an apprenticeship on how not to go broke. I didn’t know P&Ls, I just knew how to have fun.”

Burger Urge is re-writing the rule book

And, in addition to the quality of the product, it was that sense of fun and irreverence that became a brand signature. 

“We’ve always been irreverent and controversial, our customers like it. However, consumers are far more savvy today and clever marketing alone doesn’t cut it; you need to focus on the product being good.”

The evolution of the burger sector, the emergence of cooking programs and reality TV celebrity chefs have shaped people’s experiences and expectations, Sean says. Now consumers are interested in the provenance of food, and the science behind creating great tasting meals.

“At Burger Urge, our philosophy has always been that we will not compromise on the quality of our food and ingredients. When we started out we drove to Rocklea markets ourselves to stock up on fresh food. 

“As we scale and grow, we haven’t succumbed to a big business mentality. We have worked out how to maintain the essence of the brand.” 

While his customers have been evolving their tastes and expectations, Sean has tested, developed and nurtured the business into the successful format it is today.

The chain is far from a corporatised cookie cutter business. Burger Urge cleverly combines the sense of the familiar with the excitement of exploring new things. 

Visiting a Burger Urge restaurant is always a unique experience. The first Victorian site, for instance, run by franchisee Greg Dean, has a family feel with arts and crafts and team photos on the walls.

Strategic growth driven by people and passion

“Our franchisees are highly profitable, but they are not looking at labour percentages and P&Ls as the drivers, they are people-driven.

“Burger Urge franchisees are really great people who are passionate and want to create change in this sector,” Sean says.

The brand has come a long way from its $400,000 revenue in its first year, now fast approaching $100m turnover.

“I don’t align with the philosophy that from day one you have a vision for 20 years and everything is all figured out. It’s an evolution – you have to find your identity, and explore different opportunities and strategies, and that’s been the journey at Burger Urge.

“Our strategic plan is not about growth for growth’s sake. When you start a business without money, you hope to have a bigger business to afford things. Over the next seven years, as we scale, we want to be market leader in that gourmet burger space.

“We want Burger Urge to be the answer to everyone’s question ‘where do you go for the best burger experience?’.