Nugu Burger: magic happens on the way to your house
during the quarantine delivery was unmarked from the "fast food" label of not too much quality that preceded him so much to enter a world full of delicious gastronomic experiences. From our favorite restaurant, through the bar "downstairs" to the Michelin star establishments , none wanted to miss the opportunity to be part of this new format.
Nugu Burger's gourmet burgers have been one of those proposals that have triumphed during these months , but they have also done so with double merit, being a totally new brand that emerged during the state of alarm (specifically, on March 18) and that has seen how its clients have risen exponentially as their followers and mentions on Instagram. .
The keys to its success? A good product, a creative format, word of mouth from customers along with dissemination on networks. And best of all: a totally innovative technique with which their dishes are finished cooking on the way to your house.
THE ORIGIN OF NUGU BURGER AND ITS ALMA MATER: INMOTION FOOD
In back of Nugu Burger we find the startup InMotion Food and Enrique Pérez-Castro and José Luis Domínguez de Posada (along with the financial support of an anonymous agri-food group).
“InMotion Food arises to respond to one of the great problems of home delivery , lack of supply quality . "The founding partners are great lovers of delivery because we believe that it solves one of the difficulties of modern life, which is the lack of time to cook. However, we saw that this comfort came at the cost of quality, both of the product and of the conditions in which it arrived”, he tells Traveler.es Enrique Pérez-Castro, co-founder of InMotion Food.
Even so, this situation, instead of posing a threat, caused the opposite impact, accelerating the growth of the brand and becoming one of the increasingly popular hamburgers in Madrid.
"We saw that the hamburger was the queen of food delivery , but the consumption experience needed to improve in terms of the state and temperature of the product. That's why we created this project as a gourmet burger joint with products that are finished cooking on the way home , so that it arrives literally freshly made”, they explain.
A NEW WAY TO COOK AND TASTE BURGERS
The three pillars that are included under the philosophy of Nugu Burger are: quality of the ingredients, the process care so that the food arrives in the best conditions and the commitment to the environment.
From Nugu they realized that the essential in the brand, in addition to selecting the best local meat purveyors , was to take into account the time that passes from when the dish leaves the kitchen until it reaches the consumer, and in the end they decided to incorporate that time into the process. "We spent months, both redesigning the way of making hamburgers and selecting the best suppliers, until we managed to have what is now known as a Nugu, something that we are truly proud of," says Enrique Pérez-Castro.
For meat they traveled to Extremadura and Castile to obtain organic meat where the cows are fed on grass , following a natural diet that ensures the quality of the cow steak which they use. “An essential part of this commitment lies in using local and sustainable products that, by requiring less transportation, reduce the ecological footprint at the same time that they support local producers”, affirms Enrique Pérez-Castro.
And how do you get the burgers to finish cooking on the way home? It seems complicated but deep down it all has to do with the Nugu bread, with the packaging and with the way of preparing the hamburgers.
In your cooking process the bread is made in the last step , just the opposite of a traditional hamburger. “We seal the meat and assemble with the other ingredients, then we wrap everything in our raw bread and we finish the elaboration process in a ceramic plate oven at high temperature. In this way we achieve that, once the bread is made, the residual heat it generates (up to 20 minutes after leaving the oven) finishes cooking the interior on the way to its destination. The customer doesn't have to do anything, just enjoy their freshly made and warm hamburger," says Enrique.
For this to be effective, the hamburgers They are only delivered within a maximum radius of 3 km away . “We conscientiously restrict our reach to ensure the food arrives in perfect condition,” he continues.
As for the packaging, they also take care of it in detail using containers and cutlery made from biodegradable materials such as sugar cane or corn, which in addition to being designed so that the hamburgers and side dishes arrive in an optimal state, produce the less negative impact on the planet thanks to its ecological, biodegradable and recycled materials.
WHEN LESS IS MORE
The Nugu Burger menu is simple, accessible, with gourmet burgers , starters (tequeños, fingers, potatoes...) , desserts (cheesecake, chocolate...) and drinks with which to accompany lunch or dinner with a burger.
As for the hamburgers, they offer a total of seven different proposals . From the Classic Nugu (with cheddar cheese, barbecue sauce and fried onion), passing through the Trufada (with truffled cream cheese and candied onion), the farmer (goat cheese, piquillo pepper and confit onion), the Cheese Nugu (with double cheddar cheese, crispy bacon and caramelized onions) and the beyong , ideal for vegetarians. Also, if you can't find your perfect burger on the menu, you can also create your own combination.
Regarding his star orders, Enrique is clear: "for us it is very difficult to choose, they are all delicious and it depends on taste, but both Cheese Nugu and Truffle are the most popular among our clients.
THE CREATIVE DESIGN OF THE BRAND
From the logo, through the design of the collages and gifs on their website, to the thank you card they send with each order. The visual image of Nugu Burger and the rest of the InMotion Food restaurants bears the name of the artist Pilar Garcia-Ferrer . Known under the seal of pilsferrer , this 29-year-old architect is one of the experts in the world of digital collage in our country. In fact, hers was the illustration that she ran like wildfire through the corridors of Instagram to celebrate on networks last San Isidro Day.
With every order, the client obtains the recognizable illustration of Pilsferre on some cards that will evolve and vary, in such a way that they become collectible and even give access to gifts and discounts when they accumulate. " We like the idea that you keep a little piece of us and that the client sees that we take care of every last detail”, admits Pilar.
THE FUTURE OF INMOTION FOOD
Although little by little we are conquering the streets again, there is still room in the market for Nugu Burger. "The truth is that we expected more moderate growth , we think that customers would take longer to try and see the difference, but we are delighted because this shows that investing in quality and specializing in making things designed for delivery is something that consumers value," says Enrique.
Its medium-term objective is to expand the distribution area as long as new kitchens are opened to reach more customers. As for InMotion Food, as Enrique indicates: "We are going to continue promoting our other existing brands –Huerta Nuestra, Caprinchos and De La Abuela– and creating new ones based on consumer demand, but always specialized in bringing quality to home deliveries”. For now they do not consider the creation of physical premises since the essence of your project would be lost.
If we have no doubt about one thing, it is that this startup will continue to give a lot to talk about in the coming months.
Schedule: At the moment they are only open from Wednesday to Sunday.