Crunch Yo’ Burger

ProHub Comment

This case tests the candidate's ability to diagnose profitability issues through financial analysis and cost structure decomposition. The case progresses from high-level strategic analysis (examining revenue and profit margins across competitors) to operational problem-solving (identifying non-food variable costs as the culprit) and finally to quantitative modeling (calculating savings from a napkin dispensing machine). The inclusion of optional estimations (number of Subway restaurants and sit-in customers per location) allows flexibility in case length and tests market sizing capabilities.

Estimated Time 15 minutes
Difficulty Medium
Source IESE
50 / 100
You are the CEO of a large multinational fast food chain. In recent years, you have noticed that your profitability in the US has been lagging behind competitors. Your Board of Directors would like to know: Why profitability is below that of competitors and How you plan to get profitability back in line.

Clarifying Information

  1. Your company sells fast food that is cooked onsite (similar price point to McDonald’s/Subway)
  2. Crunch Yo’ Burger operates all its own stores (i.e. no franchises)
  3. There are four major players in the market, differentiated only by the type of food they offer (prices are the same) - Crunch Yo’ Burger makes hamburgers, TacoCo sells tacos and other Mexican food, NoodleCo is focused on different varieties of noodles, PizzaCo sells pizzas
  4. We are concerned only with the US operations of Crunch Yo’ Burger and its competitors
  5. Our customers can be either takeout or eat-in customers