Burger King Franchisee Files Bankruptcy Amid Financial Struggles

Consolidated Burger Holdings, a major Burger King franchisee with 57 locations across Florida and Georgia, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with nearly $37 million in debt as inflation and labor costs cripple operations.

Quick Takes

The franchisee operates 57 Burger King restaurants in Florida and Georgia and reported a $12.5 million net operating loss in its most recent fiscal year.
Rising inflation, increased food and shipping costs, and labor shortages contributed significantly to the company’s financial distress.
Sales dropped from $76.6 million to $67 million year-over-year while losses doubled from $6.3 million to $12.5 million.
This bankruptcy follows several other large Burger King franchisees that have filed since 2023, collectively affecting hundreds of locations.
Burger King parent company is investing $2.2 billion in its “Reclaim the Flame” initiative to revitalize the brand and redesign most U.S. locations by 2028.

Financial Collapse Details

Consolidated Burger Holdings has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing overwhelming financial challenges that have rendered its business model unsustainable. The company, which operates 57 Burger King restaurants throughout the Florida Panhandle and southern Georgia, reported assets and liabilities each totaling approximately $78 million. The franchisee is seeking to sell its assets through a court-supervised process after months of struggling to find a buyer independently.

The bankruptcy filing revealed that Consolidated Burger Holdings owes $36.64 million to fewer than 1,000 creditors. Financial difficulties accelerated dramatically over the past year, with sales dropping from $76.6 million to $67 million and losses doubling from $6.3 million to $12.5 million in the most recent fiscal year. The company plans to continue operations while it seeks buyers for its assets.

A 57 unit Burger King franchisee filed for bankruptcy earlier this week.

They did $67M in sales in 2024, at a loss of $12.5M.

The franchisee debt totals $36M.

This follows a 90 unit owner, and 118 unit Burger King owner who went bankrupt in 2023.

Tough out there for BK zees pic.twitter.com/FpWuJUY80y

— Pat Buckley | FranDawgs 🌭 (@TheFranDawg) April 18, 2025

Industry-Wide Challenges

Consolidated Burger Holdings is not alone in its struggles. The filing represents the latest in a series of Burger King franchisee bankruptcies that have rocked the fast-food chain since 2023. Other major operators including Meridian Restaurants Unlimited, Toms Kings, and Premier Kings collectively filed for bankruptcy protection last year, affecting a total of 378 restaurant locations across the country.

The company stated in court documents, “Over the past several years, and particularly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Debtors’ business suffered significantly from loss of foot traffic, resulting in declining revenue without proportionate decreases in rental obligations, debt service, and other liabilities.”

Burger King’s Revitalization Efforts

Amid these franchisee struggles, Burger King’s parent company, Restaurant Brands International, has been aggressively pursuing a brand turnaround strategy. The company recently acquired its largest franchisee, Carrols, and has been implementing a comprehensive remodeling program featuring a new “Sizzle” restaurant design to revitalize the brand’s image and appeal to modern consumers.

Restaurant Brands has committed $2.2 billion to its “Reclaim the Flame” initiative, which aims to redesign between 85% and 90% of all U.S. Burger King locations by 2028. Despite individual franchisee struggles, the parent company reported a 19.7% revenue increase to $8.4 billion in 2024, suggesting that the overall brand may be strengthening even as some operators face financial collapse.

The case of Consolidated Burger Holdings highlights the complex challenges facing restaurant franchisees in today’s economy, where increased operational costs can quickly overwhelm businesses despite being part of established national brands.