Wendy’s edges out Burger King for number two sales spot

According to the Associated Press, Wendy's has edged out Burger King as the number two hamburger seller in the US, making it McDonald's next big rival.

A report by the food industry research firm Technomic that will be released in April, has found that Wendy’s had sales of $8.5 billion in 2011, compared with $8.4 billion for Burger King.

This is the first time Wendy's has surpassed Burger King in sales since the former's founding in 1969.

McDonald's still dominates the market at $34.2 billion in sales for last year.

According to the Financial Times, Burger King slipped from its high of 20 per cent of the hamburger market to 13 per cent and could fall even more.

Despite its shrinking sales share, Burger King still remains the world's second biggest hamburger chain in terms of outlets worldwide.

“We view the Burger King brand as troubled – a brand that needs to find its voice in the domestic market,” Mark Kalinowski, restaurant analyst at Janney Capital Markets said to the Financial Times. “To us, flame-broiling and ‘Have it your way’ are not nearly enough to connect with many of today’s sophisticated burger-sector consumers.”

The fast-food market in the US has shifted rapidly over the last few years with both hamburger companies losing their spots as the number two and number three chains, having recently been replaced by Subway and Starbucks respectively.

Both have also struggled to keep up with McDonald's, which has kept prices low while reinventing itself as a high quality alternative with a more sophisticated menu.

Sales at McDonald's have been up 25 per cent in the last five years.