Fast food: Pulling a fast one the world over
June 12, 2001 | 12:00am
Fast food is really not a nutritionist’s dream-come-true as most of the food served there are fried. Mothers are also hard put to pull their children away from these restaurants. But can you blame the kids, what with the expensive commercials, colorful playgrounds and exciting toys that come with the value meal to lure them?
Hate it or love it, fast food restaurants are here to stay. A reader, Danny Rueda Cruz, who recently graduated with a degree in Master of Food Administration from UP, conducted a survey among 400 fast food customers to determine their preference. He also looked at how they define quality and factors that make them loyal customers.
He shares with us his findings. I complemented this report on how the fast food industry has burgeoned into a massive force in shaping not only a national but also a global culture. There is no point fighting it as it grows to a position of greater strength by the day. As in anything we can’t avoid or fight, we should understand the phenomenon and work around it so that we can incorporate it in our lives in a manner we find healthy and acceptable.
• Filipino fast food goers are mostly female, single, young adults and teenagers, college students and graduates, currently employed within the vicinity.
• The frequency of visit to the fast food has nothing to do with the amount of money being spent.
• People are not loyal to any particular fast food joint, since loyalty implies more frequent visits and concomitantly more spending which they don’t do.
• Based on the consumers’ definition of quality, it has been shown that the fast food goers are product-focused people with product aspects listed as higher needs.
In his survey, the fast food goers defined quality by ranking flavor and taste as the top criteria for patronage. This was followed by (tied for 2nd spot) value for money and nutrient content, then presentation and packaging, and finally, variety.
Systematic ordering and selling, which is a service factor, and feeling of security in the food and environment completes what Cruz describes as higher needs of the customers.
Other factors for choosing the fast food, dubbed by Cruz as lower needs, include (in order) the prompt delivery of service, consistency of service, feeling of recognition and importance, feeling of security in location and accessibility.
Cruz opines that these "10 quality characteristics will prompt the consumer to patronize and eventually become loyal to a fast food restaurant."
He clarifies, however, that it is very clear from his survey that the primary need that has to be satisfied is flavor and taste. Therefore, it’s no surprise that people are quick to try a new fast food outlet or menu offering when word spreads about its great-tasting food. Likewise, people say they will not try a new fast food if they hear from other people that the food there is not worth it.
Cruz warns that despite the predominance of food taste, all other higher and lower needs must be satisfied to insure continued patronage. He feels that customers might still keep on coming even if not all conditions are met. However, if these conditions are not completed in the long run then satisfaction may suffer and business is lost.
He also emphasizes that there seems to be no loyalty to any fast food outlet. He explains: "Filipino fast food consumers are promiscuous, they jump from one fast food to another. They prefer one or two which truly appeals to their gustatory sense (flavor and taste) and then jump from one to the other."
With these findings, it is no wonder why all fast food advertisements appeal to the market’s taste buds. Even the slogans of top burger chains and the new entrants claim superior taste. The various chicken fast food joints employ the same better-taste propaganda.
Eric Schlosser, author of the January 2001 released book Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, spent two years researching and eating an enormous amount of fast food. "Most of it tasted pretty good. That is one of the main reasons people buy fast food; it has been carefully designed to taste good. It’s also inexpensive and convenient," Schlosser seems to confirm Cruz’s findings.
But the fast food phenomenon, which started in the United States, goes beyond just good taste. Not even Americans can fully comprehend what hit them and how it has affected their whole culture. But if the American model is any indication of how the restaurant scene will be in the future, then the fast food outlets are here to rule, whether we like them or not.
"In 1970, Americans spent about $6 billion on fast food; in 2000, they spent more than $110 billion," reports Schlosser. "Americans now spend more money on fast food than on higher education, personal computers, computer software, or new cars. They spend more on fast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos, and recorded music – combined."
What he laments is its impact on the American diet.
He claims that the typical American now consumes approximately three hamburgers and four orders of French fries every week. No wonder obesity has spiraled at a pace as high as the growth of the fast food industry.
He also criticizes the industry "for feeding the young and feeding on the young" as its massive advertising is geared towards the youth while it exploits the same sector for cheap labor.
The role of the fast food industry in America is far reaching. As an employer, McDonald’s is now responsible for 90 percent of the country’s new jobs.
To illustrate how fast its growth is, Schlosser claims that the 1,000-store network of McDonald’s grew to about 28,000 restaurants with 2,000 new ones each year (another report claims that three new outlets are opened each day).
One out of every eight workers in the United States was at some point an employee of McDonald’s. The Golden Arches hires about one million people every year. That is more than any other American organization, public or private.
McDonald’s is the largest purchaser of beef, pork, and potatoes – and the second largest purchaser of chicken. It is also the largest owner of retail property in the world. Schlosser (and Robert Kiyosaki, author of the best-selling book Rich Dad, Poor Dad) claims that the company earns the majority of its profits not from selling food but from collecting rent.
In marketing class, we were told that Coca-Cola is the world’s most famous brand. Well, not anymore. McDonald’s tops all other brands in advertising and marketing expenditure. As a result, it has replaced Coca-Cola as the world’s most famous brand.
American kids love McDonald’s. The company operates more playgrounds than any other private entity in the United States. It is one of the nation’s largest distributors of toys. A survey of American schoolchildren found that 96 percent could identify Ronald McDonald. The only character with a higher recognition than him is Santa Claus.
McDonald’s and other fast food giants are also credited for the success of franchising and branding.
Every state, every suburb boasts the same Pizza Huts, Taco Bells, Gaps, Banana Republics, Starbucks and Blockbusters, Foot Lockers, Kinko’s, and Victoria’s Secrets.
Reports say that by 1988, McDonald’s had 2,600 locations abroad. That figure grew in 1994 to over 4,500 restaurants in 73 other countries. Today, there are more than 8,000 outlets in 101 countries.
One thousand McDonald’s restaurants are operating in Japan alone. The most popular restaurant in Japan, based on the volume of customers, is McDonald’s, with Kentucky Fried Chicken in second place. Today, there are 538 McDonald’s in France; 615 in Australia; 743 in Germany, (the home of the original hamburger); 693 in the United Kingdom; and almost 900 in Canada.
When McDonald’s opened its first restaurant in Minsk, over 4,000 Belorussians showed up, forcing the operators to call in the police for crowd control.
When it was constructed, the McDonald’s near Red Square in Moscow was the largest in the world.
Today, the largest McDonald’s restaurant overlooks Tiananmen Square in Beijing. There are now 127 McDonald’s in China, and more are under construction, continues the report.
For instance, in addition to its usual fare, McDonald’s sells wine in France, black currant shake in Poland, salad with shrimp in Germany, vegetarian burgers in Holland and India, Tatsuta chicken sandwich (with ginger and soy sauce) in Japan, and salmon sandwich called McLaks in Norway.
In the February 2001 issue of the Far Eastern Economic Review, Suh-Kyung Yoon of Hong Kong narrates how the fast food industry popularized what is now known as fusion cuisine (or a blend of east and west).
"Tatsuta chicken marinated in sake and fried in soy sauce, topped with a lightly-toasted bun on a bed of pommes frites. Tangy spiced samosas stuffed with grilled vegetables, slightly-melted cheese and Italian pizza sauce."
That may seem like a menu from the classiest bistro in town but it’s not. It is an excerpt straight from McDonald’s menu. That is, if you’re in Tokyo or Bombay.
"Usually in Asia, about a third of the menu is made up of dishes you won’t find anywhere else, like Tatsuta Burgers in Japan or Pizza McPuffs in India. In fact, the 25 McDonald’s in Bombay and Delhi feature a menu that is over 75 percent locally developed," Yoon points out.
It was more because of strategy to survive that McDonald’s started to "localize" its menu in the early 1980s before "fusion" even became a trend. Teriyaki Burger was launched in 1989 in Japan and Fried Chicken in 1988 in Malaysia.
"Even the good old standards like cheeseburgers and Big Macs were tweaked to appeal to local taste buds – they don’t always taste exactly the same in all the different markets. So in Thailand, McPork Burgers with Thai Basil are served, while in Korea, it’s spicy Bulgogi Burgers. Chicken, the protein of choice for most Asians, is on the menu throughout the region – spiced up a bit in Malaysia, sweetened in the Philippines. McSpaghetti-spaghetti with Filipino ham–is another favorite in the archipelago while McTempeh Burgers, made using fermented soybean, are big in Indonesia," Yoon reports.
India, though, was the most challenging for the McDonald chefs. Since majority of the population is Hindu, the restaurant can’t serve beef. Most of the standard menu had to be discarded.
"In place of the Big Mac, McDonald’s India developed the Maharaja Mac – a mutton burger. But far more popular have been Vegetarian Pizza McPuffs, which combine pizza ingredients with samosas, and Chicken McGrill, seasoned with mint mayonnaise and extra tangy Indian spices," explains Yoon.
In the Atlanta Olympics, McDonald’s went as far as providing healthy meal plans for athletes, incorporating their food selection as well as easy-to-grab grocery or cafeteria food.
Health and obesity concerns are probably farthest from the mind of a regular fast food fanatic but if fast food is even half as strong in the Philippines as a social and cultural factor, then I hope to see a happy compromise in the future between great taste, convenience, and a healthy diet.
BrandSpace Articles
<
>
