No parent needs to be told how difficult it is to distract a child from insisting on burgers and fries, and Coke or Pepsi.
Advertisements portraying fast food restaurants as a happy place where burgers and fries are provided for everybody at any hour of the day - even late at night - are a strong pull not easy to resist by the very young, the young, not-so-young and the young-at-heart.
And what do burger makers say: "The basic food for the person is bread, potatoes and meat - and we are serving it in a healthy, fast and controlled way."
Yes, it make sense. Needless to say that nowadays, people are living at a very fast pace, where everything should run quickly and as done as soon as possible and in the best possible manner. In fast food restaurants, the meal is ready in five minutes, at a fairly reasonable price - and still taste 'yummy'. And the most convenient thing is that they are all over - in shopping centres and high streets.
The I.E.O.P. (informal-eating-out-places) restaurants do not serve people fast food, they serve meals in quick time, say burger chefs.
The business' annual volume stands at around Dh600 to Dh800 million in the UAE, said Rafic Fakih, managing director for McDonald's Emirates, Emarati-owned and operated by Emirates Fast Food Corp. "Almost 40 per cent of the people in the UAE visit the quick-service restaurants.
Fakih |
The average profit margin for these restaurants varies from one retailer to another - it depends on the annual sales, the location, the rent. But, if any company is still operating in the market that means its profit margin is high.
The IEOP market is a huge segment with a lot of competitors in it. There are about 15 to 20 companies competing in this crowded market, said Fakih. Some of the major players are McDonald's, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Hardee's and Subway.
The menu in the IEOP restaurants includes whatever the person wishes for from burgers, sandwiches, chicken nuggets to fish sandwiches, tacos and wraps, salads, side dishes, breakfast items and, of course, french fries and colas.
Some of these restaurants serving only chicken products such as KFC, ChicKing and Southern Fried Chicken. The rest serve all kind of sandwiches and burgers including meat, fish and vegetable burgers, apart from the side dishes.
McDonald' says it buys all products that are used locally - except for the meat and the chicken. "McDonald's - with 28 restaurants spread all over the UAE and which is known as the 'golden arches' restaurant, with plans to add more, is a giant chain and we demand big quantities of products of the best quality. Locally-produced items alone do not meet our demand in terms of the quality and quantity, said Fakih.
"We still don't have the factories here that can meet our demand. They have to buy new line of high-technology equipment. However, within three to four years, we are working to set up local and regional suppliers to provide us with the same products that meets the international standards," said Fakih.
Talking about prices, Fakih said prices keeps changing every year - "its at all not a stable market, and this year, our prices have decreased by about 10 per cent.
"The more restaurants we add to our chain, the more our production increase. And when the production increases, we are able to buy in bulk. As a result, our costs come down which we are able to pass on to the customers as a price cut. So, the larger the chain grows, the more its able to reduce the cost," he said.
"And more or less, the market or the volume of the sales depends on the high seasons like Eids, the festivals, the dramatic increase in population of the UAE, the development in the country - all these effect the prices. Here in the UAE, we are witnessing a huge number of customers coming from within the country and the increasing number of the tourists, these reasons are encouraging us to expand," added Fakih.
It is also important to mention that in this market, there are busy seasons like during the holidays, Eids, Christmas, New Year holidays and festivals. Also, there are low periods during the summer, school days and students examinations, which are during September and April.
"Here come the advertising campaigns handy. In any retail business, the advertising budget is taken from the annual sales. We spend at least 10 per cent of our annual retail sales on them. Apart from the charity works as well as the environmental activities.
"In addition to this, we have at McDonald's and some of the other restaurants, the up-size service which runs throughout the year. It is one dirham extra on the actual price of the meal and the customer gets bigger size of cola and french fries. This offer was basically dedicated to the young people who thinks that the normal size of the drink and the fries is not enough for them, so they go for bigger ones," said Fakih.
One important aspect of this business is the newly launched service which was added to these restaurants - the drive-through service.
It is very easy, quick and convenient way to serve the customers and it is witnessing a lot of demand. You can just drive to window and order your meal, and by one press on your car accelerator, you are next to the collect-window, this process takes less than three minutes.
According to Fakih, Mcdonald's was the first restaurant to come up with this fast-moving service. "Here people are mobile, almost everybody uses cars, and it is a very successful service to us and to them as well."
"Almost 50 per cent of our sales here in the UAE comes from the drive-through. And globally, 60 per cent of McDonald's sales."
And possibly for others too - though ratios might be different. And, they're everywhere. Wherever you go, whenever you look up, nearby you're likely to find the famous golden arches of a MacDonald's or a Burger King or a KFC.
After all, fast food - or as they say the quick-service restaurants - has became a part of our every day lives now. There is no escaping it.
