American Fast Food And Indian Problems

Aditya Rao

There are more than 600 million people in India that are below the age of thirty. That’s 600 million that aren’t too interested in eating the same sort of food everyday. Rice and Dal don’t interest them anymore. If one among them is willing to pay for a different type of food then he or she would have automatically invited the attention of an American fast food joint.

Ever since the world realized the power of the Indian middle class every MNC with some clout has tried to claw its way into the Indian market. Some have been successful, some haven’t .So it should be no surprise that Burger King is also planning to step foot into India.

The problem stopping the fast food giant is one that its nearest competitors have managed to understand. Burger King hasn’t. That’s why they’re having problems.

Burger King relies heavily on Beef or cow meat to create its own separate taste. It’s how they built their brand. In India eating beef is taboo simply because the cow is sacred to India’s 80% plus Hindu population. Some Muslims also don’t eat Beef and neither do the north eastern Buddhists of India.

The idea is for Burger King to try and become some sort of competitor to its arch rival McDonalds in India as well. McDonalds has already established a strong presence in India. They’ve set up a lot of stores around the country.

But even the powerful McDonald’s has been Indianised. No other country has forced them to make changes they way India has done and in all probability no other country will.

McDonald’s was forced to create a 100% Indian menu. Everything from their sauces to their patties were Indianised. Their pricing was seriously altered to suit the Indian common man and the overall USP went from being its taste to its marketing.

In fact all American fast food joints to step into India faced similar problems of creating an Indian menu and pricing their products well. Those that succeeded like Mcdonalds, Dominos, Pizza Hut and Subway were and continue to be successful. The future sees them generating even more revenues than they currently are. It wouldn’t be a surprise if India will soon become their largest market.

It’s exactly for this reason that Burger King wants an Indian presence. An initial partnership with DLF(the IPL guys) has ensured that their stores will be running in one of the many malls that the real estate giants are building but that’s all DLF can possibly do. It is up to Burger King alone to come up with a uniquely Indian taste and a uniquely Indian price.

The funny thing is that which made them such a success everywhere else will be their downfall if they continue with the same plans in India.

They more than anyone else are aware of this and for precisely this reason are treading carefully. It is simply not possible to get away with serving Beef and Pork in India. The last thing a company wanting to make money in India is for the people to turn against it.

Hence, the fuss.