As PEI Burger Love wraps up its fourth year, there is no question that Prince Edward Island has earned the right to proclaim itself the Burger Capital of Canada.
The competition to determine this year’s Most Loved Burger jumped from 31 to 54 restaurants, and included locations from across the Island. Each restaurant showcased Island Beef through custom gourmet hamburgers, which hungry Islanders were encouraged to eat and then vote online to help crown PEI’ s Most Loved Burger.
“From launching the campaign in the middle of a snowstorm to hearing reports of restaurants literally running out of beef, it’s been an amazing campaign this year,” said Melody Dover, President of Fresh Media. “It's tremendously rewarding to see our idea for supporting our beef industry become so universally loved by all Islanders.”
The first year of PEI Burger Love sold 5,517 burgers. In 2013, the campaign sold over 46,000 burgers. This year, that number jumped to 92,168 in just 30 days. This equals over $1,159,000 million in burger sales alone. When organizers factor in sides, beverages and tips, it is estimated that the economic impact of the campaign was over $1.8 million in just one month.
“The 2014 PEI Burger Love campaign has been another wonderful success,” says Brian Morrison, Chair of the PEI Cattle Producers. “It was discussed everywhere you went during the month of April. We couldn’t be happier to have the focus on PEI Beef and other local ingredients.”
The number of burgers sold equalled over 42,000 pounds of beef. PEI Burger Love also benefited other industries, with a PEI bread supplier seeing his business increase by 30%, and local food distributors experiencing a definite increase in demand and activity. From PEI cheese makers, to pork producers, to vegetable suppliers, the benefits of the campaign clearly reached beyond the participating restaurants.
“PEI Burger Love is a great example of Islanders’ interest in buying and supporting local and what this can mean for our economy,” said Agriculture and Forestry Minster George Webster. “The Province of Prince Edward Island is pleased to support this campaign and we encourage Islanders to continue to support locally produced products.”
For the Most Loved Burger, the winner was decided by the restaurant which had the best average rating from online voting. With a very tight margin of just 0.11 points separating first place and third place, the Most Loved Burger for 2014 was The Gatsby from Sims Corner.
The Most Loved Burger featured a 7oz Island Beef Patty, Chipotle-BBQ Aioli, Maple Chipotle Bacon, Smokey Peppercorn Gouda, Braised Baby Back Boneless Pork Rib tossed in Chef Kyle's BBQ Sauce, Sauteed Portobella-Shiitake-Cremini Mushrooms, and Pea Shoots on a toasted Old Style White Bun. With their title, Sims Corner will be keeping their burger on the menu for the year.
PEI Burger Love also gained international exposure this year when it was featured in Food & Wine Magazine online. This popular food publication has a social media reach of over 1.5 million subscribers.
“Having Food & Wine take notice of our campaign, and promote it through their channels is an incredible boost to the culinary brand of Prince Edward Island,” added Dover.
Other campaign highlights included many burger fans traveling from off-Island for a burger-based weekend, local elementary and high schools creating their own Burger Love challenges, and the PEI Burger Love website receiving over 1.4 million page views in just 30 days.
“We cannot thank everyone enough for supporting PEI Burger Love like they did this year,” continued Dover. “As the rest of the country takes notice of Island Beef and our campaign, we look forward to seeing where PEI Burger Love can grow from here.”