The Scarborough Campus Students’ Union (SCSU) is selling the Hero Burger franchise located in the UTSC Student Centre.
The popular burger joint was initially brought in to diversify the food options available at UTSC in April 2012, but struggled to “generate profit in the years since opening,” according to SCSU documents.
Yasmin Rajabi, Vice-President of Operations at the SCSU, told The Varsity that operating the restaurant was beginning to require “a substantial amount of human resources from myself and our staff members that detracted from our mandate as a student union.”
The SCSU Board of Directors voted to sell Hero Burger to an interested franchise owner for a minimum of $50,000 at a board meeting on June 30. The bill of sale is awaiting finalization.
Hero Burger was one of several food franchises owned and operated by the students’ union, including KFC and Taco Bell.
In 2011, former President of the SCSU, Pagalavan Thavarajah, explained to The Varsity that the franchises operated under a subsidiary corporation called SCSU Restaurants Inc. The dividends from food sales would then be passed through to the SCSU to fund student groups and organizations.
The not-for-profit students’ union, which represents the interests of over 10,000 UTSC students, has not yet discussed the other SCSU-owned outlets in the centre.
Burger-lovers at UTSC need not worry — according to SCSU Vice President of Operations Yasmin Rajabi, Hero Burger will continue to operate under a new owner.
