Ah, the Kiwi; beloved icon of the land of GBK’s heritage, New Zealand.

Did you know that this beautiful flightless bird is an endangered animal and potentially on the verge of extinction unless something is done about it?

Well we didn’t, until a chance viewing of a TV programme called “Last Chance to See’ presented by Stephen Fry, covering the plight of endangered animals across the planet. This made us think that we could do something to help.

By contacting our friends at Tourism New Zealand, we were put in touch with the Whakatane Trust , an NZ community group that is active in the protection and survival of the kiwi, and the idea became reality. So now for every Kiwiburger sold in any of our UK restaurants we will make a 25p voluntary donation on your behalf to help fund their amazing work.

By selling over 2,000 Kiwiburgers a week we hope to raise at least £25,000 a year, thrilling the team at the Whakatane trust and chairperson Lorraine Brill. “Although kiwi numbers are steeply declining around New Zealand, we have an expanding resident kiwi population in Whakatane. We have even had kiwis wander into gardens and signs on the roads to warn motorists to watch out for kiwi!”

This great relationship was marked by our first adopted kiwi, named Aotearoa (which is the traditional Maori name for New Zealand, meaning ‘Land of the Long White Cloud’). We nicknamed him ‘Beetroot’, and he was released into the wild last year. Check out the clip for his amazing cuteness! And revel in the fact that for every kiwi burger that you purchase, not only are you enjoying the antipodean combination of beetroot, egg, pineapple, cheese, salad, mayo and relish all on top an amazing burger you’re also helping Beetroot and his mates.

We know that list of ingredients reads like it shouldn’t work but trust us it does, just like the kiwi bird. Magic.