With today’s hectic lifestyles, timesaving products are increasingly in

demand. Perhaps one of the most obvious examples is fast food. Today the
demand for the, hectic lifestyles, timesaving products are increasingly.
Obliviously one of the example is Fast Food Industry. The rate of growth in
consumer expenditures on fast food has led most other segments of the food-
away-from home market for much of the last two decades. Since 1982, there is
growth rate in consumer spending at fast food. The consumers spent at fast
food outlets grew at an annually he proportion of away-from-home food
expenditures on fast food also increased.

Ref:http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/foodreview/jan1999/frjan99b.pdf ,
Causes and Consequences of Fast Food Sales Growth, Mark D. Jekanowski,
January-April 1999

Everyone eats Fast Food even knowing that it is not healthy for them. Reasons
are because of speed, convenience and price. However, fast food has many
hidden costs, including the high price of bad health. Not to mention the fact
that for such cheap food, you're actually being overcharged by a big amount.
So the real reason is not price, but convenience. You can get much cheaper
food by cooking for yourself, but you are not always at home to do the
cooking, or you do not always feel like cooking.

http://www.bargainist.com/deals/2007/09/12-cheap-alternatives-to-fast-food/
POSTED ON 09/07/2007

Now People want quick and convenient meals they do not want to spend a lot of
time preparing meals, traveling to pick up meals or waiting for meals in
restaurants. That result, consumers rely on fast food. Knowing this fast food
providers are coming up with new ways to market their products that save time
for consumers. The rapid rate at which the fast food industry continues to
add outlets is as much a reflection of consumer demand for convenience as it
is a reflection of demand for fast food itself. Expanding the number of
outlets increases accessibility, thus making it more convenient for consumers
to purchase fast food. Rising incomes, longer workdays, and a growing
tendency for both spouses to hold full-time jobs are widely credited. This
trend rise in a way from home expenditures to fast food especially benefits
from these trends. The fast food industry focuses heavily on rapid consumer
turnover, speed of service, and take-out sales. Most fast food chains
emphasize convenience and low prices by offering a narrow range of menu items.

Ref:http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/foodreview/jan1999/frjan99b.pdf ,
Causes and Consequences of Fast Food Sales Growth, Mark D. Jekanowski,
January-April 1999
There is a need to conquered Sales because it is a beast., it is the reason
why "location, location, location" is so true in site selection.

Ref:http://en.allexperts.com/q/Running-Restaurant-2285/2008/8/key-success-
factors-fast.htm

In the Fast food industry, the critical success factors are: Location, Menu
selection, Advertising, Value, and Operating systems.

Ref:http://www.smartcompany.com.au/Blog/Marcia-Griffin-Blog/20080902-
Critical-success-factors.html(Critical success factors ,Wednesday, 3
September 2008 ,By Marcia Griffin)

As we talk about the location theory, there are 16 classic location factors:
availability of raw materials, transportation, market, energy, labor,
capital, technical knowledge, scale, agglomeration, demand, competition,
government influence, tradition, random factors, environmental factors, and
perception. The cover these factors is an important varies by industry or
individual company management.

Ref:http://www.dailyspeculations.com/Connections/connections_location.html(Vi
ctor Niederhoffer & Laurel Kenner) 1/5/4

Today, the Site location matters a lot. A poor location decision can have
much greater and more immediate effects on operating efficiencies and cash
flow

Ref:http://articles.directorym.net/7_Keys_to_Facility_Location-a934546.html,
7 Keys to Facility Location, John T. Mentzer, 2008

The fast-food industry spends over a billion dollars a year on catchy slogans
to lure consumers for example. You deserve a break today!" "Have it your
way!" "Run for the border!" To enter the doors of the competition. But
according to new survey the restaurant's location may be the biggest factor
in fast-food purchase decisions. Consumers that fast service is less
important than the convenience of getting to the restaurant in the first
place. Twenty-six percent of adults surveyed by Maritz Marketing Research of
Fenton, Missouri, say that a convenient location is the most influential
factor in their choice of fast-food restaurants. Men are more likely than
women to value convenience, at 31 percent versus 23 percent, and those aged
65 and older value it less than younger adults.
Ref:http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4021/is_n5_v18/ai_18225781, Fast
food for thought

American Demographics, May, 1996 by Pamela Kasdan

Kathy, think to improve upon meal preparation franchises, became involved

with Meal Creations as a way to allow busy families to eat diverse, exciting,
economical meals taking advantage of Schnucks unrivaled products and
ingredients, accomplished chefs, and their outstanding original recipes that
are easy to assemble and prepare. Meal creation involves customer
satisfaction and need to serve home cooked, tasty, and nutritious meals for
family and friends Custom designed menu for an audience who appreciates quick
and delicious mealtime solutions. To provide customers quick and healthy
options for mealtime Meal Creation allows you to customize delicious recipes
that suit your family’s tastes.

http://www.schnucksmealcreations.com/About/foodexperts.aspx

National bestsellers have changed dinners for tens of thousands of families;

Healthy can be delicious and quick,

Full color photos show how the meals really look, Easy to follow instructions
will make cooking in the workweek fast,

There should be weekly rotations in grocery lists for 5 delicious dinners.

http://www.cookingfortherushed.com/

There should be something that kids should enjoy eating. Cooking for kids
should involve few ingredients. Most recipes with six or fewer ingredients
can fall into this category. Adding creativity to the recipe is also easy.
Cooking for kids does not have to be about strict guidelines and lack of
imagination. Allowing kids to improvise, and showing them how certain
ingredients can be changed or substituted, will give them a willingness to
try other ideas that would be easy cooking for kids. As parents you can show
how certain ingredients go together for taste and texture. Allowing the kids
to taste their creation along the way will help them learn from and improve
their skills.

http://www.winsup.com.au/index.php/turning-a-recipe-into-easy-cooking-for-
kids.html
Over the past several decades, the foodservice industries that offer the
highest levels of convenience have been rewarded with strong sales growth. In
the face of rising incomes and increasingly hectic work schedules, a nearly
insatiable demand for convenience will continue to drive fast food sales.
Firms will strive to find ways to make their products even more accessible.
Fast food, once considered a novelty, has become an increasingly significant
part of the American diet. The role of convenience in this dietary shift
cannot be over-emphasized, and the future growth of the rest of the
foodservice industry will be driven in large part by its ability to find new
ways to save consumers’ time.

Ref:http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/foodreview/jan1999/frjan99b.pdf ,
Causes and Consequences of Fast Food Sales Growth, Mark D. Jekanowski,
January-April 1999

Quick to capture the changing nature of the business, the fast food industry
has also changed the face of the food chain in the last decades. Changes in
food presentation and preparation were derived from technological
improvements that facilitated the preservation of both uncooked and precooked
foods. The advent of the microwave helped with the rapid preparation of food.
As well as food preparation, the presentation of food also went through
transformation. Outlets that relied highly on staff and the use of crockery
or cutlery gave way to a strong ‘eat with your fingers’ emphasis.

Ref: consumer change in fast food preference, James richardson and luis kluwe
aguiar,

Http://www.ifama.org/tamu/iama/conferences/2004conference/papers/richardson10
04.pdf

In addition to this, technological advances in packaging allowed the ultimate

use of disposal of materials made of plastic, cardboard and polymers. These
came in tandem with a drive towards uniformity of expectations, which
included not only the presentation of the food itself, but also radical
changes to the fundamentals of traditional restauranteuring (Schlosser 2001).

Ref: Schlosser, Eric. “Fast food nation – what the all American meal is doing
to

the world”. Penguin 2002.

Rault-Wack and Bricas (2002) propose that food is also a powerful medium for
the construction of cultural and collective identities.
REF: Rault-Walk Anne, Bricas Nicola. “Ethical issues related to food sector
evolution in developing countries: about sustainability and equity”. Cirad
2000.

(Jackle and Scalle, 1999), As a result a strong brand association and

identification was established facilitating the formation and consolidation
of strong corporate identities.

REF:

Sapala ( 2002) by establishing a parallel between the fast food industry and
that of tobacco, has come to the conclusion that we may become addicted to
fast food, its texture, taste and the sensation of fullness after its
ingestion.

REF: Sapala, S. ”Is the fast food industry becoming the new tobacco
industry?”.

Obesity Surgery 12 – 1:1-2.

(English 2002) Nonetheless, whether it is the consumer’s responsibility to

watch what they eat or the retailer’s obligation to monitor the healthiness
of what they serve seems irrelevant when considered against the backdrop of
consumers power of perception. After all, fast food brands are merely what
the consumer perceives them to be.

REF: English, Simon. “McDonald to shut in 10 nations.” Daily Telegraph, 9

December 2002.

“Mahon (1989) believes that an effective brand must be capable of responding

to a changing technological and global environment. And knowledge about the
external environment is thus key to branding.

REF: Mahon, J. “Corporate political strategy”. Business in the Contemporary

World. 2 – 1: 50-62

The primary attributes guiding consumer behavior such as taste, cleanliness,

convenience and cost are no longer enough to represent the true desires of
the consumer. Findings indicated that in the UK there has been a shift of
preferences from satisfaction based on cheap food and speedy service to more
emphasis on ingredients and taste.

Ref: consumer change in fast food preference, James richardson and luis kluwe
aguiar,

Http://www.ifama.org/tamu/iama/conferences/2004conference/papers/richardson10
04.pdf

To start, recall that fast food companies focus their advertising resources
on attracting young customers. Considering that children, unlike adults,
often lack the requisite cognitive skills to weigh the short-term and
particularly long term, consequences of consumption decisions, they are
especially receptive to these efforts. Perhaps, in part for that reason, the
percentage of children consuming fast food has surged rapidly over the past
twenty years, as has the proportion of children that are overweight. While
socioeconomic changes, such as diminished physical activity and fewer meals
prepared at home, have contributed to aggregate weight gain among children,
augmented consumption of fast food has also proven salient. Though the
detriments of such weight gain are borne most noticeably by obese children,
taxpayers also suffer, particularly since half of the costs of obesity
represent public expenditures, and four out of five children who become obese
will remain so for the rest of their lives. Along those lines, since the food
preferences of adults are predominantly shaped by their eating habits as
children, the consumption choices of today’s youth will impact future
taxpayers, as well as the allocation of public resources for much of the
twenty-first century. Therefore, illuminating the unique dynamics of fast
food consumption among children appears especially worthwhile, and perhaps
the most salient rationale for nutritional notification of any restaurant
food.

REF : (ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY AND CONSUMER CHOICE

THEORY IN NUTRITIONAL LABELING)

(MICHAEL A. MCCANN)

Marketing experts have all kinds of theories about what makes fast food sell.
Chris Muller, professor of food and beverage management at Cornell
University, says that the three most influential attributes are low price,
speed of service, and consistency. Taco Bell incorporates what it believes to
be the most significant factors into the acronym FACT - Fast food, Accurate
orders, Cleanliness, and food served at the right Temperature. Some believe
that price is the deciding factor. "People are only brand loyal to who's got
the best deal going that week," says Stuart Elliot of The New York Times. But
David Lynch, vice president of Wendy's International, thinks the situation is
more complex. "The most important factor depends on the mood and amount of
time you have [devoted to the ad campaign]."
REF: Fast food for thought

American Demographics, May, 1996 by Pamela Kasdan

People don't always know or admit the underlying reasons for their brand
choices. But they seem to know what they like. The average American adult
visits a fast-food restaurant six times a month.

Maritz Marketing Research's Internet site at http://www. maritz.com/apoll/.

It’s extremely difficult to eat in a healthy way at a fast-food restaurant.

Despite some of their recent healthful offerings, the menus still tend to
include foods high in fat, sugar and calories and low in fiber and nutrients,
said lead author Mark Pereira, Ph.D., assistant professor of epidemiology at
the University of Minnesota.

It is important to watch carefully what you eat, especially at a fast-food

restaurant. Knowing the nutritional content is important. Consumers may want
to ask for this information,” said NHLBI’s Gina Wei, M.D., project officer
for CARDIA. Eating at Fast-food Restaurants More than Twice Per Week is
Associated with More Weight Gain and Insulin Resistance in Otherwise Healthy
Young Adults

REF:

Pakistan's food sector is changing significantly as lifestyles and

traditional eating habits are shifting. Retail sales of processed foods is
expanding, by 10 percent per year in recent years, and currently are
estimated at about $1.4 billion, of which imported products account for $325
million. Industry estimates are that more than half of Pakistan’s consumer
food imports are not reported officially. Supermarkets are gaining in
popularity as a shopping venue and now account for about 10 percent of all
retail food sales. In addition, Pakistan now hosts numerous western-style
fast food chains reflecting a rising popularity with such eating style.

Ref: http://www.fas.usda.gov/gainfiles/200411/146117912.doc