I love fast food and have studied the business side of the
industry since I was a kid. It all started with my dad who has been a traveling
salesman since I can remember. I’d go on road trips with him and by road trips
I mean at least 12 hours a day in a car. We’d talk a lot about business, music,
politics, and anything else that came up. Fast food is the diet of the
traveling salesman and when you eat fast food because you have to, you analyze
the companies much deeper than the average consumer.
Let’s start off with the basic players and overview. So what
exactly is fast food? Fast food is food that can be purchased in a restaurant
or in a drive thru and is quick to obtain when you are in a hurry. Overall
everything I will talk about when analyzing the fast food industry applies to
almost every restaurant and can be applied to many other food companies and
businesses.
When eating fast food frequently and on the road you are
looking for what I call the core values. The core values are taste,
cleanliness, variety, price, availability, and amenities. Taste and variety are
similar because you want food that is different and tastes good. Along with
this you can consider how healthy the food is. In many cases companies that
offer unique food that is different from the typical fast food offerings gain
business because it is healthy. After traveling for a few days or even one day
it is nice to have fruits, vegetables, and a real meal that isn’t fast food
which is one reason some companies do better than others.
Cleanliness is very important for many reasons. After you have
been traveling in a filthy tuna can that is packed with bags, marketing
materials, and construction tools and supplies you want to be able to sit in a
clean place and relax while you eat. Many restaurants are typically dirty or
were dirty but can’t break their image as a dirty place.
Eating at McDonald's with my dad. My niece eating at McDonald's.
Eating at McDonald's with my dad. My niece eating at McDonald's.
Now let’s wrap the last three together and get to looking at
the current and past fast food industry. Price and availability are two of the
most common issues while looking for something to eat. If the restaurant is
expensive and you’re on a stipend or you work for a start-up company with low
funds, price can be a large factor. Surprisingly food prices vary especially
when it comes to getting the best value. Also availability is important when
traveling by car. When you are driving through the middle of nowhere sometimes
there is only one or two places to pick from. If you travel regularly though
you know what is available for hundreds or thousands of miles since you have
traveled these same areas over and over. As my sister famously said as a kid, “Dad
might be lost but he can always find a McDonald’s.” And the last point is
amenities. Amenities used to be the availability of restrooms and free refills
but today it has expanded to free Wi-Fi and the number of available power
outlets.
Now let’s analyze the companies and how you win at the fast
food game. McDonald’s is king with Starbucks following a similar path. So why
is McDonald’s king? The key is that McDonald’s has clean restaurants, good
tasting food (some healthier options), good value and prices, they are located
on every street corner, and they offer great amenities (they never complain if
you use their restrooms with no purchase and they typically have free Wi-Fi).
The McDonald’s image is what sets them apart. Many other restaurants have tried
to make changes to the core values listed above but they don’t know how to
successfully change their image. Also many restaurants don’t understand the
core values and have therefore failed. The reason McDonald’s is so successful
is because they saw the core values before everyone else and made the changes
needed quickly.
When reviewing fast food companies one needs to think about the
taste, cleanliness, variety, price, availability, and amenities. McDonald’s has
done the best out of any restaurant. But McDonald’s gets trashed talked by
everyone and especially health nuts since people now view fast food as being “bad”
and since McDonald’s is the best fast
food company they take a majority of this hatred. As for amenities another
great fast food company to look at is Starbucks. Starbucks has great friendly
customer service, tons of outlets, a variety of food and beverage options, they
are basically everywhere (especially on the West coast), offer free Wi-Fi, and
I don’t think they would care if I used their restrooms even if I didn’t
purchase products which makes them great. As for price, Starbucks has high
priced products but they add value in other ways. Overall Starbucks has
developed a great image and following because it has followed the core values.
So next time you are thinking about getting some fast food
think about why you are choosing to eat where you do. I bet the core values of
taste, cleanliness, variety, price, availability, and amenities plays a key
role of where you eat. Also think about the restaurants that you won’t eat at
and I bet they do poorly on the core values.
