Gourmet burger chain Burger Burger goes into receivership after 12 years

Thursday, 18 June 2026

Burger Burger has gone into receivership after 12 years.

The gourmet burger chain began in 2014 in Auckland before expanding.

Burger Burger Holdings director Mimi Gilmour said she was still fighting to save the business, but admitted the company started struggling in 2025.

Gourmet burger chain Burger Burger has announced they have gone into receivership after 12 years in business.

Burger Burger began in 2014 with a store in Auckland before expanding with five further stores, including in Hamilton and Mount Maunganui.

As reported by the NZ Herald on Thursday, the burger chain, which employs 90 people, owes around $1.8 million, with the receivership triggered by a landlord calling in a loan and rent arrears.

Burger Burger Holdings director Mimi Gilmour said she was still fighting to save the business, but admitted the company started struggling in 2025.

“It was last year really that the crunch started – the cost of living crisis, and we kind of recovered at the beginning of this year, and then the war started.”

Centrix data shows a tale of two islands: South Island financial arrears are low, while North Island communities struggle. Meanwhile, hospitality liquidations have surged by nearly 50% as households cut back on dining out.

Gilmore said a combination of higher wages and a 70% increase in meat prices over 18 months had made life difficult for the business.

“We just suddenly overnight went from making money to like losing 20 grand a week, and you can’t just close the doors and stop … I should have diversified. Taken the assets we had and diversified faster,” she told the Herald.

Damien Grant and Adam Botterill of Waterstone have been appointed receivers to Burger Burger Holdings.

In a statement to Stuff, Botterill said it was early in their investigations and they remain “hopeful” that a resolution can be reached and the debt repaid to their appointer.

“We are working with the director and appointor to find a way forward to minimise the disruption to the business, he said.

Botterill said the stores remain open, to his knowledge, and continue to trade as normal.

In 2016, Burger Burger was crowned the best burger in New Zealand by Metro Magazine.

The news of Burger Burger’s receivership comes just months after Centrix revealed there had been 3023 liquidations in the year to March.

Hospitality was the second-largest contributor of those, recording 399 liquidations - an increase of 49% compared with the previous year.

Stuff has approached Burger Burger and Waterstone for comment.