Fast food in China
Western-style fast food in mainland China is a fairly recent phenomenon, with Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) establishing its first Beijing restaurant in November 1987.
[2] Rapid economic development, and the growth of global trade and cultural exchanges have accelerated changes in people's lifestyles in transitional societies like China.
[7][8][9] KFC, also known as 肯德基, experienced extreme success in China, breaking several world records for restaurants in its early years.
In 1995, the bearded, elderly European American man that Chinese children found so off-putting was exchanged for a playful cartoon character dubbed "Chicky".
Other efforts to entice children included play areas, child-height sinks, smaller furniture and settings for birthday parties, which were a very recent phenomenon in China.
Despite Glorious China Chicken's cheaper prices, larger portions, choices of rice, soup, and vegetables, and draught beer, the KFC consistently has more customers because of one factor: its hygiene.
As a result, Chinese people highly favored KFC and began to complain of other restaurants' lack of bathrooms and general untidiness.
Chinese consumers prefer the clean space and earlier opening hours of KFC while Americans favor it for being affordable and being a meal instead of a snack.
[13] Besides the satisfaction on brand identity, KFC specifically came up with the unique menu only in China where you can easily get different flavors of rice porridge, deep fried dough sticks, and soy milk in the morning.
[16] While this discovery had the potential of ruining the brand's reputation, KFC still managed to increase its profits while opening hundreds of new stores in China that same year.
[17] Following the 2016 result of the South China Sea arbitration, KFC restaurants in Chinese cities became locations for public protests.
[18]: 126 Much like other fast food businesses, Kentucky Fried Chicken will look to phase out their usage of plastic products and will instead introduce wooden cutlery and more biodegradable packaging material for their orders.
Initially, mainly affluent families ate there to distinguish themselves and as a result McDonald's became a symbol of a new lifestyle of seeking out foreign cultural influences.
[21] The structure is a legacy of McDonald's entry into the Beijing market a time when the municipal government was the largest landlord and the involvement of an SOE facilitated obtaining real estate.
[25] The rivalry between them not only expands potential demand for western fast food by getting Chinese customers to try, but also affects the size of the market where it can be easily enlarged.
[34] Burger King entered during a time where two major food giants, KFC and McDonald's, were competing for control over domestic markets in China.
Burger King faced challenges in the domestic market as a significant portion of the population preferred chicken over beef when it came to meat options.
[35] Starbucks, a chain primarily known for their coffee, drinks, and quick service food opened their first store in the China World Trade Building, Beijing in January 1999.
Foreign brands such as illy Caffè and Tim Hortons have also been attempting to erode the market share advantage that Starbucks have been able to establish.
With the rapid economic development after China's reform and opening up, Pizza Hut began to expand its business to small and medium-sized cities.
The financial crisis led Pizza Hut to reach a contractual agreement with China's Yum Brands to close a quarter of its restaurants.
In 2020, according to information released by the National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center, during the inspection by the institute "净网2020", the Pizza Hut mobile app was named for privacy non-compliance, which was deemed a violation of Chinese laws and regulations.
The second major reason is that McDonald's and KFC establishments in China have placed a massive emphasis on cleanliness to the point that customers would choose them over a Chinese fast-food counterpart.
While McDonald's and Kentucky's prices are not any cheaper than those of Chinese chains, coupons made their food much more affordable for poor people and increased brand recognition.
By opening restaurants extremely quickly and strategically placing them in major cities, it overshadowed Chinese chains before they had the chance to develop.
The final phase of the spread of fast food in China occurred when McDonald's and KFC stopped targeting universities and urban hot-spots and began expanding outward and focusing on residential areas.
These obesity rates match the introduction of fast food restaurants and raise significant concerns about the future health of citizens.
[56] A study published in 2016 connects the expanding number of Western fast food enterprises in China to rising rates of obesity.
[58] Yum China, the parent brand of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell have looked into initiatives to separate themselves from their American counterparts by focusing on improving the health of consumers.
In China, food delivery mainly uses non-degradable plastic, while in the United States, most takeout orders use biodegradable materials such as paper or cardboard.
