Hi world,
I am an employee of Hungry Jack's.
Oh cool you say, but it seems like we may be one of OzBargain's favourite fast food stores!
I always get questions asked in comments or PM'ed to me, so why not just ask any queries you have below?
I'll also keep you guys updated on any new things we have coming up :)
Food
Anything said is my own views and not that of the company, and nothing I post is an official Company posting, announcement or communication :)
Oh man, this will upset a few of my vegetarian friends.
Not sure why they can't use non animal rennet. Domino's mozzarella contains non animal rennet. Probably cost.
@Imitation: I checked coles cheese with animal rennet and non-animal rennet and both were priced almost similar. I think most of the people does not care if its animal rennet and HJ doesn't bother as well.
@pyramid: It's a lousy idea though. If no one cares, why not use non-animal rennet. I wish such large corporations didn't care about anything.
Yup, there's pretty much no difference when it comes to the two. But the issue lies in commercial quantities. They tend to all contain Rennet in bulk packs.
They kill the calves either way to get their mother's milk - so dodging the rennet is bizzarely random. If you care then just dodge the cheese entirely.
well they can get the burger without cheese then. Can't please everyone.
Besides they were vegetarian by choice, they don't have to eat at HJ. I never understand those people who complains that there isn't enough choices for them. If you become vegetarian, that's fine but it doesn't everyone has to cater for your needs.
Look I agree but if it tastes the same or very close and it costs the same or very close then it's hard to understand why they would not do it.
I guess the difference is that with a pizza 99.9% of people would not eat one without cheese. You cannot traditionally skip the cheese on a pizza. Although it's very common to do it because some people are lactose intolerant, or in some other way allergic (according to them).
(might not make sense w context vegan / vegetarian and I've had a few beers and I cbf thinking much more than doing this edit right now..)
Also I can't remember the last time I had a burger and thought 'wow this cheese is amazing' or 'wow this cheese tastes like shit'. The majority of the flavors by memory in any burger is meat and sauce.. bit o tomato, pickle and beetroot if you've got it. Cheese doesn't really factor into the flavor of a burger for me at all. I'm sure I taste it but the fact I can't remember it is saying something.. maybe it's about texture / smoothness / fat, etc?
Point being if the cheese was worse tasting I don't think anyone would notice.
Can I ask how the burger patties are cooked? I am more interested in the veggie patty. Is it fried? if so i am guessing it might be fried in the same vat in the same oil along with say chicken/fish nuggets or patties? Also, how are the chicken nuggets and chicken fries cooked? Cooked in oil? again, in the same vats as normal fries?
Veggie patties are fryed, chicken nugs, Chicken patties & chicken fries are fryed in separate vats from the fries which have their dedicated vats
@Food: Thanks for replying! So veggie patty and fries are fried in separate vats to chicken nuggets, fish patties and chicken patties? How about onion rings? apologies for the repeat questions! Ive heard conflicting answers.
@harashov: chicken products (patties, nuggets, chicken fries), onion rings, veggie patties are all cooked in the same section.
We don't sell seafood
So the veggie parties are fried in the same oil as the meat.
I don't care but I think some people might have a problem with that. :/
Glad someone brought this up. I'm Pescatarian, and yet I don't eat cheese with animal rennet. I'm quite careful with what I eat, but when you ask a question about what is contained in the food and you are consistently met with blank stares….unfortunately, you tend to stop asking.
Unfortunately, I get the same blank stares when I have to ask about ingredients related to my food allergies too, and that is significantly more serious (I have preservative allergies)
I wish food companies and outlets would step up their game.
Glad to see that I'm not alone who is picky about food contents.
Not at all. I have many Veg/Vegan friends who also ask all the time.
You know what was frustrating for me? Walking into a bakery and asking if their muffins had preservatives. The response was 'they're gluten free'.
sigh
Ex Baker here, anti fungal ingredients are often used in commercial bakeries to ensure longer product shelf life. This includes calcium propionic 282 and it's found in
Muffins
Pizza bases
Wraps
Turkish bread
Pastries
Burger buns
Hot dog buns
Some supermarket breads
If you have consumed any of the above then you have already been consuming some trace amounts of
282.
Sadly, I already know that I pretty much can't eat from a lot of bakeries. Many, many, MANY bakeries are not 'fresh' at all, and as soon as they tell me that something is not made on site, I know full well that I can't eat it.
But when the answer doesn't match the question, it's frustrating, especially when it's so important. When that answer comes from a bakery, it's ignorant.
When a bakery owner tells me they don't have gelatine in their cream cakes and I ask to see the packaging and they chuck a mental over it (and yes, gelatine was in the cream)…Well, I don't appreciate being treated like ship over a legitimate enquiry and a 'know it all' baker.
I thought fast food places like to refer to themselves as good food quickly?
Kenny……..
Kenny as in the 'plumber'?
Australians all let us ring Joyce, 'cause she us young and free
Sorry no, from a Seinfeld episode.
P.s. don't go singing National anthem wrong, a mister Mundine will be upset with you……
"good". Well, that is just hilarious
If you had a choice of a pile of shit, then hungry Jack's, then a 800g rib eye steak bone in cooked to perfection, well then , yes hungry Jack's would be considered good!……..😋
I don't know, its scarily close to the pile of shit imo!
??? Yas all want instant food but you want it to be boutique quality? DOH!!
Suggest learn to cook at home.
@xywolap: wow, we have reached New territory. Now it is being g called instant food. Makes you wonder what's going on back there…….
And for the record, I can cook toast like a MoFo……
Do they still do internal check of whopper burger to be 310g-ish?
Not sure
Is 'DP' still the code for cut in half? 😂
Unsure what it was back in the old days but no
It was "divided portions"
Ooh fancy
I thought dp only happens in the movies
You can get your burger cut in half?
Yep!
Wrapped once, cut, then wrapped again
Wow (I know it's pretty basic lol). Is this common? Mostly for kids?
Glad they changed the chips, was the best change they've made
Eh I see it as 60/40 split of like and dislike. I personally love them
I haven't had a bad serve of chips yet unlike some of the crap I used to get. Doesn't mean they wont screw them up sometime but I'm impressed.
The chips are god tier.
Will they ever change their name to burger king like the rest of the world?
Probably not
no way. Hungry Jacks is an Australian unique name. Why follow the others?
Brand awareness.
Look at Netflix.
But realistically can't see hungry jacks becoming Burger King. A few years ago Burger King setup in Australia but left and out local Burger King became and still is a Hungry Jacks.
Burger King and Hungry Jacks were around at the same time a few years ago until a lawsuit saw the Burger Kings slowly close down.
Look it up.
They don't need brand awareness. Everyone in Australia knows that Hungry Jacks is Hungry Jacks.
Brand awareness is a reason for them to not change in Australia.
LOL My first downvotes :O ouch! For what? Talking about a lawsuit? I didn't sue anyone, I'm not a lawyer.
Some people are just big meanie heads!
When they came to aus burger king was already a registered aussie business, thats why jack was so hungry.
yep, registered by Ronald Mc Donald is what I heard.
It was in use by a take away in Adelaide, it's in the Wikipedia article on HJ's.
When Burger King moved to expand its operations into Australia, it found that its business name was already trademarked by a takeaway food shop in Adelaide.
Also I am not an expert but if you have a trademark you have to use it or you lose it. You can't squat trademarks like you squat domain names. McDonalds could not trademark HJ unless they used it eg. had a product that had the name or had stores that used the name.
They were Burger King when they first opened. I remember the Tweed Heads one changing names.
cheers
No pretty sure they were Hungry Jacks first, then after middling success a bunch of Burger Kings opened, then the BKs either changed their names to HJs or closed down
From https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungry_Jack%27s#History_of_.…
In 1996, shortly after the Australian trademark on the Burger King name lapsed, Burger King Corporation made a claim that Hungry Jack's had violated the conditions of the renewed franchise agreement by failing to expand the chain at the rate defined in the contract and sought to terminate the agreement. Under the aegis of this claim, Burger King Corporation in partnership with Royal Dutch Shell's Australian division Shell Company of Australia Ltd., began to open its own stores in 1997 beginning in Sydney and throughout the Australian regions of New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and Tasmania.[6][7][8][9] In addition, Burger King sought to limit HJ's ability to open new locations in the country, whether they were corporate locations or third-party licensees.[10]
As a result of Burger King's actions,[citation needed] Hungry Jack's owner Jack Cowin and his company Competitive Foods Australia, began legal proceedings in 2001 against the Burger King Corporation, claiming Burger King Corporation had violated the conditions of the master franchising agreement and was in breach of the contract.
@Spooked: yeah, I read that after writing me comment. Unfortunately I am old enough to have seen this first hand, but at the time people weren't sure exactly why or what was going on (it was the early says of the internet
When there's a public holiday Hungry Jacks raises the price for any order by 10% http://i.imgur.com/vhKYcWO.jpg
This was at Parramatta NSW. Does this apply everywhere else?
Hailing from Vic I could be wrong but I thought all restaurants and food places in nsw Charged this 10% fee on pub holidays?
Last time I was in crows crows on a public holiday was in 2008 I think and la Porchetta Charged this extra fee then!
Depends on the place. My family and I had meals at 3 different places yesterday, 1 had surcharge and 2 didn't.
Really?? Damn the places that do it then. Thanks for info!
We used to but the company owned stores don't charge the surcharge anymore. Your store may be a franchise, they're off in their own world in terms to rules and stuff
Sure 10% extra isn't bad for a public holiday…
But here at MacDonald's, we take pride in low prices and only increase it to 5%
P.S. I work at MacDonald's ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Had one of your coffees the other day… cold and bitter.. so dont fly the flag too high.. LOL
How coincidental. That's just how I like my women.
Any chance they could start producing burgers that taste like burgers. My last few have been cold, soggy and depressing.
So, your last few burgers have been…
Normal
Eh they're made to order so it shouldn't be the case, so if it happens again go back and complain. Even complain to HQ, you'll get your meal replaced.
(profanity) the Swanston St store for this.
which one, near flinders or latrobe?
Ask for a 'fresh order' and that you dont mind waiting. If its not steaming hot, go inside (if you went through drivethru) and ask for a fresh one this time. If they cant/mess up again, ask for their name and/or their manager. Then ring head office and tell them. They will ,place it. Sounds extreme, but it works. The amount of orders my mates HJ's screws up is astonishing. Hes like an unpaid quality control officer.
If you want a real burger go to a burger shop… fast food is just that.. fast.
Hi, do the Veggie whopper burgers contain any pork product/animal rennet?
For at least a decade or two the "veggie" patties were fried in animal fat, however they've been using vegetable oil for a few years now.
I'd rather something something cooked in animal fat any day….. current research is starting to suggest vegetable oils aren't what they're cracked up to be. Cast your eye over books such as 'Sweet Poison', 'Big fat ugly lies' and 'Salt Sugar and fat' among others.
Not sure what scares me more - the sugar content or the vegetable oils in so many of our foods.
Not to mention cooking with animal fat or lard as it's called tastes way, way better
…yeah pretty sure it's an ethical thing not a 'pop science' or taste thing.
you're a bad person. He was being abused beforehand and they only released the film at snapping point.
mmmmm bacon
How do you know?
The head butt to the cabinet was classic
What are employee views on shake and win customers.
I pass through the same area every morning and 3/5 days I win a coffee or orange juice. I swear they can see me coming now with my phone out to claim my morning beverage and I'm starting to feel embarrassed but, well free is free.
Also, what's the official policy on free refills now?
Some stores still have the "everyone gets a free refill" sign on the machines. Others don't. And is it A free refill or more?
Thanks man!
Not to mention those that claim a free cheese burger on survey code too.
They get shirty and dark if you don't tell them at the speaker box that it's a a survey code burger…… Because when I've ordered a BBQ cheese burger, I've had it said to me at the payment window, I need to inform them it's a survey BBQ cheese burger at time of order…..I'm thinking it comes with added special sauce.
Just don't come through the drive thru during a rush and expect to get 20 survey free BBQ cheeseburgers, otherwise it's all good!
It would be nice if people said "hey we have x free barbies" at the speaker box though so the crew can start making them.
We just process it at the window because it's too hard to read out the redemption numbers at the box.
We literally don't care, I say good on on everyone for snapping up a bargain/freebie!
There is literally no policy on free refills, it varies from store to store & depends on the store managers. At my store I let all the customers know when I take their food out to them that they're welcome to come up and see us for refills :)
How about stores not honouring the vouchers that are posted on here all the time (circular quay I am looking at you) they just reckon they don't honour them at their store as a prerogative
Does HJ use cheese with animal rennet?