Although Burger King prefers to operate in markets through franchising, doing so has sometimes been initially difficult because suppliers and prospective franchisee did not know the company well enough. When such a market looked attractive enough, Burger King would enter with the operations it owned, thereby displaying market commitment and demonstrating its expectations of franchisees. For instance, its demonstrated commitment entices a meat-processing plant to invest in added capacity for processing of ground beef. The success of Burger King's owned operating units helps the company to sell them to franchisees. By 2013 it owned only 3 percent of its restaurants.