Good Times All Natural Burgers & Frozen Custard, a 31-unit chain based in Denver, Colorado, prides itself on offering elevated fast food. The beloved regional brand aims to source high-quality, trendy ingredients in order to offer innovative and exciting menu items.

“We tend to look upwards (to the full-service industry) when we are finding inspiration rather than looking at what our rivals are doing,” says Amy Nedwell, director of marketing at Good Times Restaurants, Inc. “Our customer pays a little more here, because they expect something a little more here. That means we’re looking for higher quality ingredients—whatever we can do to get the word out and be a unique and exciting brand in this space.”

“Merkts has a great authentic beer flavor that interacts so well with the stone-ground mustard and pretzel bun.”

That playbook inspired a fall LTO, the Octoberfest Burger, made with the Good Times signature all-natural beef patty, Merkts Craft Beer Cheese Spread, and stone-ground mustard on a pretzel bun. Nedwell reports that the LTO has been a hit for several years in a row, due in part to the authenticity offered by the Merkts flavor profile.

“The Merkts Craft Beer Cheese tie-in is what makes it the Octoberfest burger,” Nedwell says. “Merkts has a great beer flavor that interacts so well with the stone-ground mustard and pretzel bun. It’s not often that we bring in three separate SKUs for a single LTO, but this is worth it to us since so many people will come out specifically to have this burger.”

Nedwell also mentions that her relationship with Bel Brands USA, parent company of Merkts Craft Beer Cheese Spread, has been a refreshing one. The vendor partner promotes the Octoberfest Burger on its social channels each fall, helping Good Times All Natural Burgers & Frozen Custard bolster its own social media presence.

“It’s not often that we use a unique ingredient that has its own following and a very good social media presence,” Nedwell says. “It’s even less often that we can go to the vendor and say, ‘Hey, do you want to promote this on your social channels?’ and they say, ‘Absolutely.’ That’s been a really cool relationship to have.”

For more on Merkts menu inspiration, visit belbrandsfoodservice.com