Fast Food Popularity in China Essay

Examine the reasons for the popularity of fast food restaurants in your country. When, why, and how have these restaurants become so popular? (Cause) Demonstrate the impact of this popularity on your country’s culture, i. e. , food, health, economy, lifestyle. (Effect) You will need to do some research on the fast food chains growth, menus, nutritional background, business models, and perhaps more. Your research should include more than one fast food restaurant. Recently, McDonald’s announced their plan to expand outlets from 1300 to 2000 by the end of 2013 in China. It is reported that the main purpose is to compete with KFC, which is the largest quick service restaurant brand in China with over 4,200 restaurants in more than 850 cities across China. The growing huge market and politic strategies taken by restaurants make fast food popular in China; this in turn has a great influence on China’s economy, culture and health. There are several of causes for fast food popular in China. On the first place, the growing market and industry attract plenty of fast food restaurants. China’s fast food market worth over 700 billion yuan in the last year and had a rapid speed–about 12 percent in the past several years. Furthermore, the market is estimated to grow to 1400 billion yuan by 2015. The second main cause of this popularity is some strategies taken by fast food brands especially localization. Take KFC for example, the brand adds many localized product like Beijing Chicken Roll, tomato egg soup and corn salad to meet Chinese consumers demand. The popularity also brings some effects especially for Chinese culture. First, the change reflects on food consumption habits. For example, Yum! China’s menu is dominated by meat-rich food except for breakfast. Furthermore, fast foods are becoming affordable by most people so that the brand opens almost one third of its restaurants in countryside. Second, traditional wedding has been influenced with wedding services provided by some fast food brands. Nowadays, to compare with Chinese traditional, extravagant and tawdry weddings, more and more young people in China prefer smaller, easier and cheaper weddings. Many fast food restaurants contribute to this tendency like McWedding offered by McDonald’s, which is held by restaurant assistants with a more intimate and less costly way. In short, fast food popularity has an effect on Chinese eating habit and wedding tradition. Also, the popularity has an effect on economy. For one thing, it increases the revenues for economy. The revenue of fast food industry in 2011 is $74. 8 billion which benefits the economy in turn. More important thing is that the revenue will keep growing at the rate of 14. -15. 0% in the next five years. For another thing, it influences the agriculture. With the explosive development of fast food industry, many grain farms are out of use. In 2011, there are roughly 700 thousand hectares of arable land are reconstructed to raise livestock or fowl instead of growing grains. As a result, China needs to rely more on importation and increase grain imports. In 2010, China imported 927 (1000 MT) wheat, while in 2012, nearly 3200 (1000 MT) wheat were imported. It is obvious that the popularity benefits China’s revenue while harming the agriculture foundation. Finally, the popularity also carries two problems for people’s health: obesity and diabetes. The number of overweight people has grown from 18 to 100 million in the last 5 years with the rapid development of fast food industry. As a result, many complications like high blood pressure and diabetes become more common in China. Take diabetes for example, there are over 92 million adults suffer from diabetes and the costs of diabetes make up nearly 1. % of GDP. It is undeniable that fast food restaurants make Chinese people cost a lot on their health especially on the treatment of diabetes. In conclusion, the pursue towards maximum profits and proper strategies contribute to the popularity of fast food in China, as a result, China’s culture, economy and Chinese health. In the foreseeable future, the popularity of fast food will last for a lone time and will have long-term effects in china.