Why Burger King Just Shut Down 89 of Its Franchises in Germany The company is closing a whopping 13 percent of its restaurants in Germany following an undercover report that exposed the locations' expired food, sanitary violations and bad working conditions.
By Kate Taylor
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Nearly 13 percent of the Burger King restaurants in Germany are closing up shop.
Burger King announced last week that it was terminating contacts for 89 franchised locations in Germany after reports of poor hygiene and poor treatment of the staff, reports The Local. All locations were run by the largest franchisee in the country, Yi-Ko.
The termination was set in motion in May, when an undercover report revealed that the restaurants were serving expired food and violating sanitary standards. The Local reports that following the hygiene scandal, some improvements were made. However, new breaches emerged, including the franchisee withholding employees' holiday pay, bonuses and sick pay.
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Burger King did not immediately respond to Entrepreneur's request for comment.
The closure will affect up to 3,000 employees in cities including Munich and Frankfurt. The remaining 599 restaurants in Germany will continue to operate normally.
In recent months, franchisors' responsibilities to protect their brands from the negative effects of negligent franchisees and suppliers have made headlines. McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut and KFC are still recovering from a food-safety scandal in China, in which one of their suppliers was revealed (also through an undercover report) to be selling expired meat. Undercover videos have also recently exposed animal abuse at a Domino's cheese supplier and a Chick-fil-A chicken supplier.
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