Hesburger (colloquially known in Finland as ''Hese'' and in Estonia as ''Hess'') is a

fast food Fast food is a type of Mass production, mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. ''Fast food'' is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheat ...

chain based in

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

, Finland. In 2008 it was the largest hamburger restaurant

chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A ...

in Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, with a market share larger than that of U.S.-based rival

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

. It further operates in Bulgaria, Germany, Poland, Romania, and Ukraine. Hesburger primarily purveys fast foods such as hamburgers, fried potatoes, salads and desserts. The company name is derived from the nickname of the founder, Heikki "Hese" Salmela. The company also operates ''Hesecafes,'' which sell

pastries Pastry refers to a variety of doughs (often enriched with fat or eggs), as well as the sweet and savoury baked goods made from them. The dough may be accordingly called pastry dough for clarity. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bak ...

and specialty coffees, and

hot dog A hot dog is a grilled, steamed, or boiled sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun. The term ''hot dog'' can also refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener ( Vienna sausage) or a frankfurter ( Frankfurter Würs ...

outlets. Some restaurants provide

car wash A car wash, or auto wash, is a facility used to clean the exterior, and in some cases the interior, of motor vehicle, cars. Car washes can be #Self-serve car wash, self-service, full-service (with attendants who wash the vehicle), or #Autom ...

services.

History

The chain's history reaches back to 1966, when 20-year old

Heikki Salmela Heikki Juhani "Hessu" Salmela (born 30 December 1946 in Turku) is a Finland, Finnish fast food entrepreneur. He is the founder of the Hesburger chain of fast food restaurants, the largest fast food restaurant chain in Finland. Career Salmela star ...

opened a

street food Street food is food sold by a Hawker (trade), hawker or vendor on a street or at another public place, such as a market, fair, or park. It is often sold from a portable food booth, food cart, or food truck and is meant for immediate consumption ...

kiosk Historically, a kiosk () was a small garden pavilion open on some or all sides common in Iran, Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Today, several examples of this type of kiosk still exist ...

called ''Kievarin grilli'' in

Naantali Naantali (; ) is a municipalities of Finland, town in Southwest Finland, and, as a resort town during the summer, an important centre of tourism in the country. The municipality has a population of (), and is located west of Turku. The town h ...

. He later opened the first Hesburger in the Hansakortteli shopping centre in 1980 on Kristiinankatu in Turku, which became the first element of the first fast food restaurant chain in Finland. In the 1980s the chain grew fast. Salmela sold the chain and several hotels in 1988 for almost 200 million

Finnish markka The markka (; ; currency symbol, sign: mk; ISO 4217, ISO code: FIM), also known as the Finnish mark, was the currency of Finland from 1860 until 28 February 2002, when it ceased to be legal tender. The markka was divided into 100 penny, pennies ...

. Three years later, during the early 1990s recession, he bought it back for 25 million markka. Salmela has said in an interview that in the beginning, the name of the street his kiosk was located at sufficed for a name for the kiosk. After Salmela had founded his restaurant chain company, it needed a proper name. The name "Hesburger" was suggested, but Salmela thought the name didn't have "an American feel" to it. So he asked an advertisement bureau to come up with a name for his company. The advertisement bureau thought about suitable names for a couple of weeks, and in the end presented Salmela with the name they came up with, along with a bill of 100 thousand markka: "Hesburger". With only 12 outlets in 1992, Hesburger expanded to over 200 restaurants in 60 cities and towns across Finland over the following decade, absorbing rival chain Carrols in 2002. The purchase of Carrols gave Hesburger some previously nonexistent leverage on the fast food market of

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

. Hesburger has kept rival chain McDonald's out of Turku efficiently: in 2014, there were 21 Hesburgers but only two McDonald's locations in the city. Hesburger has also expanded to international markets, opening outlets in the

Baltic states The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

and in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, as well as a single location in

Alanya Alanya (; ), formerly Alaiye, is a beach resort town, resort city, a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Antalya Province, Turkey. It is on the southern coast of Turkey, in the country's Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean R ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

(opened in 2014, closed unknown date). There was a Hesburger in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

for a short period between 2004 and 2006, but it was closed as unprofitable. Further expansion into the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

has been discussed by the company. Hesburger expanded to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

by opening a delivery-only restaurant in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

in 2024. In summer of 2024, Hesburger expanded to

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

by opening its first restaurant in

Râmnicu Vâlcea Râmnicu Vâlcea (formerly ''Râmnic'', ) is a city in Romania. Located in the south-central part of the country, in the historical province of Oltenia, it is the seat of Vâlcea County and its main urban settlement. According to the 2021 Romanian ...

Russia

The first attempts to enter the Russian market were made at the end of the 80's. In the summer of 1988 through the joint Soviet-Finnish enterprise in St. Petersburg (and later in

Vyborg Vyborg (; , ; , ; , ) is a town and the administrative center of Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of Vyborg Bay, northwest of St. Petersburg, east of the Finnish capital H ...

and

Petrozavodsk Petrozavodsk (, ; Karelian language, Karelian, Veps language, Vepsian and ) is the capital city of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, which stretches along the western shore of Lake Onega for some . The population of the city is 280,890 as of 2022. ...

) street tents opened under the Liha Polar brand made in the Hesburger color scheme. In the menu was hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries and other dishes are typical for Hesburger. In the late 1990s/early 2000s restaurants ceased to exist for unknown reasons. The first Russian Hesburger opened in January 2010 in Moscow, and a year later in St. Petersburg. The network worked on the rights of master franchise LLC Rusburger, owned by the meat-industrial company Ostankino. By the end of 2012, Hesburger still opened 13 restaurants, as well as with the help of partners launched restaurants in Ufa, Krasnoyarsk and in the far East. In December 2013, Hesburger changed owners and became a group of companies called "Megagrupp". On March 29, 2022, Hesburger announced a slow departure from the Russian and Belarusian markets. 40 restaurants were available in Russia. In May, a local brand called SuperBurger was registered with a logo similar to Hesburger's, and intended to replace Hesburger. Some Hesburger restaurants continued to operate as of April 2023.

Restaurants

Hesburger Helsingin yliopiston metroasemalla

Hesburger employs over 8,000 people, of whom 5,400 are based in Finland. Hesburger has been actively expanding its operations in Lithuania, announcing investments of 3,5 million euros in 2016, around 4 million in 2017 and 4 million in 2018.

Operations

* Hesburger hamburger restaurants * Hesecafe – hamburgers,

coffee drinks Coffee drinks are made by brewing water with ground coffee beans. The brewing is either done slowly, by Coffee filter, drip, filter, French press, moka pot or Coffee percolator, percolator, or done very quickly, under pressure, by an espresso m ...

and

* HeseHotelli – hotels with Hesburger restaurant also acting as the hotel reception * Hese kotituotteet – retail products * Hese Nakkari – snack

products * Heseautopesu –

services for Hesburger customers * Döner HeseKebab & Gyros - sells Döner

Kebabs Kebab ( , ), kebap, kabob (alternative North American English, North American spelling), kebob, or kabab (Kashmiri spelling) is a variety of roasted meat dishes that originated in the Middle East. Kebabs consist of cut up ground meat, somet ...

and Gyros * HesePark - a

skate park A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, quarter pipe ...

References

External links