A travel-inspired food revolution at Hermanos Burgers

Hermanos Burgers, a relatively new player in Malta’s culinary landscape, has enjoyed impressive growth since opening its first outlet in May 2020. Despite the widespread difficulties experienced by businesses due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, Hermanos has successfully managed to buck the trend of stagnation seen across much of the economic landscape, in two years growing from a sole outlet in Paceville, St Julian’s, to operating in four locations across Malta.  

The idea for Hermanos was born while the company’s founder was travelling the world in early 2019. Inspired by local flavours and the varying approaches to both burger design and wider culinary creation, he conceived the concept of a burger joint that would bring these experiences back to Malta, offering a unique menu that would feature flavours from across the globe.  

The story so far

The business was officially launched in May 2020, originally offering orders via delivery service only owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. From the beginning, Hermanos has been keen to place emphasis on quality, aiming to source only the best (and where possible local) ingredients, and freshly preparing their burger patties each day.

When the brand launched, this preparation took place in St Julian’s, remaining this way even when the company began to expand its operations with additional restaurants. For a while, production was moved to the company’s second outlet in Paola, however, as time went on and further expansion took place, it became clear that additional production capacity would be required, as well as a centralised location from which to distribute produce.  

These requirements led Hermanos to change their base of operations, opening a new company headquarters in Burmarrad which, crucially, includes the first Hermanos Laboratory — a centralised location where burgers are freshly prepared daily before being couriered to each local branch using one of the company’s three bespoke food trucks.

The building also offers extensive training, which is given to staff members at the start of their journey with the company, as well as on a regular basis afterwards. “We want to make sure that the quality of our food and customer service remains high”, explains a company spokesman, “for us it’s important to have that regular contact time with our staff to ensure our standards remain consistent.”  

Since launching, Hermanos has introduced a Kids Meal Box (created due to popular demand), numerous new flavours, a 'Burger of the Month’ feature and enhanced delivery location coverage. 

Outreach work 

This year marks a significant point for the Hermanos Foundation, a charity wing of the company which offers assistance to various charitable organisations across Malta. Most notably, Hermanos has recently partnered with the Puttino Cares Foundation, an organisation which works to offer support and holistic care to children suffering from cancer.

Each Hermanos outlet features a customer donation box, the combined total of which the company then also contributes funds to before presenting this to Puttino. In addition, the company also provides food deliveries to children receiving hospital care, and collaborates with a charity providing assistance in the realm of mental health. 

Plans for the future 

This June sees Hermanos introduce a new public-facing vintage style food truck to Malta, that promises to bring a specially curated selection of the company’s signature burgers to various locations around the island, including beaches, rural locations and main thoroughfares.

Hermanos plans to update customers as to the location of the food truck on their website, so be sure to watch this space. Additionally, in 2023, the company plans to introduce franchising to the business for the first time since launching in 2020. Initially available only in Malta, this offers potential franchisees a unique opportunity to join the island’s fastest growing burger business, while promising to maintain the same high standards of quality.  

Final thoughts 

Hermanos is clearly working hard to try something new, bringing new flavours and a fresh approach to Malta’s gourmet burger scene.

Their bestseller, the Chicago Bacon, was an enjoyable taste of what the company offers, brought to life by expertly prepared fried onions and bacon (the key to their bacon is a closely guarded secret, we were told...), served alongside perfectly cooked fries, Tequeños — a Venezuelan fried breaded cheese stick — and an incredibly refreshing tangerine soda specially made for the company by a partner organisation in Italy. In conclusion, we enjoyed our time at Hermanos; their food is excellent, their staff friendly and their approach to business a community-focused one centred around quality and sustainability. For more information about Hermanos, visit their official website.