Washington, July 17: A US fast food chain is testing what could be burger lovers’ wildest fantasy— a foot-long cheeseburger.
With three meat patties and three slices of cheese, the cheeseburger sold as a foot-long sandwich is being tested at 50 Carl''s Jr. restaurants in Southern California and 50 Hardee''s units in Indiana.
The same chain had introduced the world to the 1,400-calorie Monster Burger and the Monster Breakfast Sandwich, with 47 grams of fat.
The move comes at a time fast-food chains are focused on concocting more items intriguingly low in price but large in size.
The Carl''s foot-long fetches 4 dollars without lettuce and tomatoes and 4.50 dollars with.
The foot-long burger idea was hatched two months ago from a product development chef at Carl''s, says Brad Haley, marketing chief.
The chain is especially eager to create products that appeal to its core customers— young men ages 18 to 24.
"Obviously, the foot-long sandwich has been very successful at Subway. But we decided to do it the Carl''s way,” USA Today quoted Haley as saying.
The sandwich has 850 calories with 20 grams of saturated fat. It''s served on a white sub roll, sliced in half and wrapped in butcher paper.
If it''s a hit in testing, it could be sold at all Carl''s and Hardee''s — sister chains in different regions of the country — within three to six months, said Haley.
The move, Hume says, is clearly a response to the wild success that Subway has had with its 5 dollar subs.
"Subway is taking ''share of stomach'' from the burger places, too. I''d rather have a charbroiled, foot-long cheeseburger than a cold, foot-long deli sandwich any day," said Hume.