• Investment Required
• Investment Level: $ 125 K
• Training and Support: Yes

White Castle was the first ever fast-food hamburger chain in existence, and that's not all. White Castle also used the first ever industrial strength spatula, manufactured the first mass-produced paper hat, and was the first to sell frozen fast food. White Castle has been extremely popular as a hamburger chain for as long as eating hamburgers was trendy. White Castle was the first fast food hamburger company to ever sell not only a million burgers, but also to sell a billion burgers as well.

The first White Castle was opened in 1921 with only $700 worth of borrowed money. The restaurant was opened in Wichita, Kansas, and offered hamburgers for only $0.05 each. The White Castle Company hired a renowned food scientist from a "Big Ten" university to run tests so that the company could give nutritional values to its White Castle Slyder burgers. One study included having a medical student live on nothing but White Castle burgers and water for a period of thirteen weeks. The results of the study conclusively showed that the student maintained good health during the entire scientific study.

In 1931, the White Castle Company began to use frozen beef patties in order to assure high quality product. WhiteCastle also developed the high-quality crush-proof carton that was lined specifically to keep delicious square burgers steaming and warm, promoting the carryout concept by keeping each sandwich warm on its way home. WhiteCastle was also the first company to run a fast food coupon advertising campaign offering 5 hamburgers for the price of 2, which was a 15-cent savings on the regular 5-cent price per burger.

The Slyder hamburger was patented in 1954, and in 1956, the White Castle added ice cream shakes to the menu. This was the year that White Castle had already served over 1 billion hamburgers, more than any other hamburger chain in the entire United States at the time. White Castle was also the first company to put cheeseburgers on the menu, in 1962. By 1968, the company had already sold more than two billion hamburgers. The company continued to grow at breakneck speeds, introducing frozen fast food in the late 80s, and continuing to expand across the country even today. In 1994, White Castle entered Mexico for the first time through importation of food products, and in 1996, the White Castle celebrated its 75th year anniversary.

The White Castle Company does not offer any franchising opportunities at current. Please browse our other top franchisors, which are currently accepting new franchising opportunity applications.