Cantabrians Help Wendy’s Set New World Record

Cantabrians Help Wendy’s Set New World Record

Cantabrians have helped Wendy’s set a new world record with the company’s new Hornby store achieving record sales.

With Wendy’s first Christchurch restaurant in Hereford St lasting just 10 weeks before the 2011 earthquake forced it to close, the new Hornby outlet is the South Island’s only Wendy’s restaurant.

Opening just last week (Monday 11 November), Cantabrians proved their love for the burger chain by setting a new world record for sales in its first seven days.

Busy staff made more than 20,000 burgers, with customers eating their way through more than 2.5 tonne of fresh prime New Zealand beef, 980kg of lettuce, 285kg of tomatoes, 5,000 whole chicken breasts and 1,000 baked potatoes.

Wendy’s CEO Danielle Lendich said the store served more than 10,000 customers in its first week and broke the previous weekly record held by Hamilton’s Frankton restaurant by eight percent, all of which was achieved within standard trading hours.

“It’s been a fantastic welcome from the people of Canterbury, we’re so pleased to be back. I think this record will stand for a long time.”

First to dine at the new restaurant were former staff members and customers who were in the short-lived Hereford St restaurant when the earthquake struck.

Lendich said staff from around the country had arrived this week to lend a hand, however the Hornby store was now looking to hire extra team members on top of the 50 new positions already created. “We’re interviewing next week for full- and part-timers and hope to find people locally.”

She said the company was still finding it difficult to find permanent accommodation for the store’s manager and his family.

The restaurant on Hornby’s Main Road South cost the company more than $1.3 million to fit out, with construction by local contractors Hanham and Philp taking just 17 weeks to complete.

With the roll-out of a fresh new look underway, the store boasts café style seating and group seating for larger dining parties, a Drive Thru, and a new two-sided grill system that cooks the meat in a quarter of the time, reduces wastage and enhances food safety.

Much of the ingredients being served are sourced locally including potatoes from Talley’s in Motueka, natural New Zealand Colby cheese from Dairyworks in Christchurch, free range eggs from two South Island farms, and locally grown lettuce and tomatoes.

The Hornby restaurant along with other new outlets opening in the next six months in Te Rapa in Hamilton, Whangarei and Albany will take the total number of Wendy’s restaurants nationwide to 23.

Lendich said the New Zealand owned company was also looking at other sites around the South Island and Christchurch including a possible re-entry into Hereford St.

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