Shake Shack chega ao Brasil em parceria com o Outback

Shake Shack, a renowned American fast-food chain, is set to enter the Brazilian market through a partnership with BOLD, the holding company that owns Outback, Abbraccio, and Aussie in the country. In this agreement, BOLD will operate as a master franchisee of the Shake Shack network, investing in the opening and running of the stores.

The contract stipulates that BOLD will open at least 40 Shake Shack locations by 2036, though BOLD's CEO Pierre Berenstein believes there is room for "hundreds of stores" in the coming years. The first unit is scheduled to open in São Paulo during the first half of 2027, at a location yet to be determined. Berenstein expressed admiration for Shake Shack, noting that it has "a large footprint with the Brazilian consumer."

A survey conducted with 4,000 Brazilian consumers in the previous year revealed that, despite the brand not being present in the country, it achieved high levels of awareness comparable to brands that have been in Brazil for decades. Founded by restaurateur Danny Meyer in New York, Shake Shack originated from a hotdog cart in Madison Square Park, which was established to raise funds for park improvements.

The success led Meyer to convert the cart into a permanent kiosk and eventually a franchise network. Today, the brand operates over 700 locations across 20 countries, though its presence is limited to Mexico and Panama in Latin America. The entry into Brazil is the result of negotiations that began over eight years ago, in 2018.

At that time, when BOLD was part of Bloomin Brands and not yet backed by Vinci Partners, Berenstein and Mauro Guardabassi – who will serve as president of Shake Shack Brazil – started discussing a potential partnership with the company. The negotiations were underway until the pandemic struck in 2020, halting the progress. "When the pandemic hit, we were already at a different stage, and they were too," Mauro explained.

"It scared everyone, and nobody wanted to make such a move." After Vinci's investment in BOLD in early 2025, the idea of a partnership was revived. The arrival of Shake Shack fits into Vinci's strategy of transforming BOLD into a house of brands, featuring iconic and beloved brands among consumers. Carlos Eduardo Martins, the co-owner and private equity manager of Vinci responsible for the investment in BOLD, noted that the hamburger market in Brazil generates nearly R$ 40 billion and grows between 5% and 7% annually, with strong e-commerce penetration.

Shake Shack aims to position itself as a premium hamburger chain, competing with established brands like Madero and Cabana Burger. Mauro emphasized, however, that there are clear differentiators between Shake Shack and these competitors. The first is the culture of hospitality, which is deeply rooted in Shake Shack's history and also valued by BOLD.

The second is the quality of ingredients and product, although competitors may not lack quality, Shake Shack offers unique characteristics that attract consumers. This new brand arrives at a time of significant expansion for BOLD, which opened 13 locations this year (12 Outbacks and 1 Abbraccio) and anticipates generating R$ 3.5 billion in revenue.

The revenue growth from January to September was 6%, with same-store sales increasing by 2.1% and customer traffic up by 1.8%. Pierre Berenstein sees personal significance in the Shake Shack partnership, recalling how, nearly a decade ago, when he joined Bloomin Brands, Peter Rodenbeck (the executive who brought Outback to Brazil in the 1990s) gifted him the book Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business, written by Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer.

Berenstein learned from the book that service is a monologue and hospitality is a dialogue – providing service that delights. "The lesson I took from that book is that service is when you deliver everything correctly at the table, and hospitality is how you make the customer feel, how you connect with them," he said. "That's what we always try to do with Outback, and that's what we'll do with Shake Shack now."