Monday, June 26, 2006
Many fast food nations, ONE SUPER-SIZED THEORY (Hindustan Times, 25 Jun 2006, Page 11)
SUSHMITA Bose
Hindustan Times
25 Jun 2006
THIS IS not your regular pizza with cola, or your mahaburger with French fries — but it’s still a combo that may take a while to wolf down. In the West, Britain’s Food Standards Agency is gearing up to ban all fast food advertisements on television before 9 pm and health lobbyists are attacking Fifa for having McDonald’s and Coca-Cola as official sponsors of World Cup 2006. At home, the Union health minister is asking film stars and sports icons to keep away from endorsing cola brands.
It’s all happening at the same time. The case for fast food has never been so bad. But what’s eating the industry in India?
Almost 10 years after it opened shop in India, McDonald’s estimates that fast food constitutes only around 10 per cent of the diet of an average urban Indian. The number is close to the findings of KSATechnopak, the consultancy that has published Indian Consumer Trends 2006, a report with quantitative inputs from 784 ‘urban towns’ across the country. Akshay Chaturvedi, senior consultant, KSA Technopak, says, “While fast food constitutes 11 per cent the average Indians’ diet, in the bigger cities (read: metros) the share would be 16 per cent. And this does not include ‘Indian’ fast food like chaat and bhel puri, which account for another 3 per cent.”
Everyone, however, agrees that the sector is witnessing a healthy growth (the relatively low penetration is chiefly due to... read more...
Move over Big Mac, octopus dumplings on fast-food horizon (Red Eye Chicago, 26 Jun 2006, Page 10)
Red Eye Chicago
26 Jun 2006
If Morio Sase has his way, hungry teenagers around the world will soon be snacking on something more exotic than McDonald’s hamburgers: takoyaki, or octopus dumplings.
With more than 350 takeout stores in Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan already, Sase’s Gindaco chain is one of a barrage of fast-food companies bringing lowbrow Japanese chow to overseas markets. Its first U.S. store is scheduled to open in L.A. in 2007, and it hopes to open 20 stores in California by 2010.
“When I was a small boy, it was street food that made me feel good and warm inside,’’ Sase said.
Faced with uncertain demand for fast food as Japan’s population ages, an increasing number of the nation’s chains are looking overseas for new markets.
One of the first Japanese fast-food chains to head overseas was the beef bowl chain Yoshinoya D&C Co. Since its first U.S. store in Denver in 1975, Yoshinoya’s American network has grown to 82 eateries in California and New York.
Part of the fun of the octopus dumplings is watching them being cooked. It takes the chefs months to learn to grill the takoyaki to a crisp golden brown on... read more...
