Australian man seeks investors for the Hamdog, a hot dog-hamburger hybrid
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Are you ready for this hamburger hot dog mashup? (The HamDog)
An Australian man has successfully patented and will soon begin selling a cross between a hamburger and a hotdog - dubbed the “Hamdog.”
Mark Murray first pitched his idea on “Shark Tank” last year, after successfully securing a US patent for the “combination hamburger hot dog bread bun” in 2009.
“Everyone told me it wasn’t possible, because you’d need a patent lawyer and it would cost millions of dollars,”Murray told news.com.au.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Even [Boost Juice founder and "Shark Tank" judge] Janine Allis told me that it was impossible to patent. She’ll be eating her words now,” Mr Murray said.
Conceived in 2004, the Hamdog consists of a Bunbury beef patty cut in half, with a Hunsa frankfurt inserted in the middle. It’s topped with lettuce, tomato, cheese, pickles and three sauces - American mustard, tomato sauce and mayonnaise.
The custom bun is created in special made-to-order molds by hand in a Perth bakery.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“We use all local ingredients. The only thing that’s not from WA are the pickles,” Murray said.
“At the moment there is a fair bit of labor involved in making the buns because they’re made by people, not machines. We’re still developing a way to semi automate production.”
The Hamdog marquee will appear at events such as local markets, shows, races around Perth, Australia but hopes to go national—and possibly, international, if his creation is a hit. Murray says so far, the response has been “incredible”.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“We launched our marquee two months ago and we had people come from everywhere just to experience the Hamdog. At one stage the crew were knocking out about one every 15 seconds. It was amazing.”
He’s currently inviting people to buy into his business so the Hamdog can be sold around the country. For $10,000 you can become a “reseller,” similar to a franchisee, with your own Hamdog marquee.
For now there’s only the one type of Hamdog for sale, but Murray says his team is considering expanding the menu.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“We’ve had requests of all sorts for gluten free, vegan and vegetarian Hamdogs,” he said. “Once the product is out there and that process is sorted, we’ll start experimenting.”
To find out where the Hamdog marquee will next appear, follow The Hamdog on Facebook, or visit hamdog.com.au.