Our Mission:
To deliver perfect food and fast, caring service in sparkling surroundings
The company was born in 1919 in Lodi, California, when Roy Allen and Frank Wright opened a sidewalk stand offering a creamy, refreshing beverage they called A&W Root Beer. In 1923, capitalizing on the popularity of the automobile, they introduced "drive-in service", inviting customers to pull off the road, park their cars and enjoy this delicious and different drink. Sales soared and the fast food business was born.
A&W came to Canada in 1956 when two operators, Dick Bolte and Orval Helwege, opened their first drive-in restaurant on Portage Avenue in Winnipeg. By the 1960s, A&W had become a favourite gathering spot for teens and families.
Over the years, A&W has become a market leader, introducing such products as the phenomenally successful Teen Burger, one-of-a-kind fresh handmade onion rings and the popular Mozza Burger. The company's determination to offer consumers the highest quality fast food has paid off: in independent research, consumers consistently rate A&W's food as the best tasting in the fast food hamburger segment.
In the mid 70s, when the novelty of drive-in began to fade, A&W adopted an aggressive strategy to renew its business in the face of stiff competition from multinational fast food chains. That strategy involved closing drive-ins (where business had declined dramatically) and winning in shopping center food service. A&W achieved that goal and is now the number one fast food hamburger chain in Canadian shopping centers, with restaurants in over 250 regional and neighbourhood centres and a dominant market share of over 75%.