Fast food brands face ‘health' issues
With high obesity and diabetes levels in UAE, impact of fast food on health is topic of intense debate
Fast food outlets are ubiquitous in the UAE. With 125 nationalities, there are enough and more tastebuds to cater to. No wonder then that we have one or the other international fast food chain opening up.
Why does fast food tick in the UAE? Easy availability, convenience and value for money are reasons for the popularity, not to mention the enticing free gifts for kiddies. Further, with the influence of Western lifestyles, even the traditional food staples of rice and kababs are being replaced by burgers, sandwiches and fried chicken.
One of our studies among youth in the UAE suggested that close to 80 per cent eat out once a week or more and spend a considerable amount of their pocket money doing so. When asked about their favourite brands, one in four Emirati youngsters mentioned a fast food brand.
Interestingly, the research also highlighted that the most preferred free time activity of youth in the UAE is spending time at a mall — a place where a plethora of fast food outlets is available.
With high obesity and diabetes levels in the UAE, the impact of fast food on public health is a topic that has created intense debate of late among various stakeholders, in many ways creating a negative image of fast food brands. The government, in particular, is keen to promote low calorie foods and a healthy lifestyle and a lot of communication is being targeted at consumers on the potentially harmful effects of such a diet.
Safeguarding investment
In this scenario, how can fast food companies safeguard their investments? Is it at all possible to deliver business growth and profitability while operating in an environment that has become significantly hostile?
Our experience of working with brands operating in similar environments suggests that it is. However, fast food companies will need to adopt the ‘5-E' approach to counter the negative imagery surrounding the category.
- Educate — Lack of information leads to suspicion. Fast food brands need to educate consumers by informing them about the calorific value of meals.
Not only do they need to provide information upfront on food sources and nutritional value of the ingredients, they also need to provide lower calorie options of regular meals.
- Engage — Think beyond sales. Help consumers to be a part of the brand, as once consumers start believing that a brand cares about them, they become advocates of it. This could, for example, give consumers a chance to work in the kitchens or visit poultry farms or work for a weekend as a counter person at an outlet.
Monitoring quality
During these activities, consumers could be exposed to the various processes through which fast food brands monitor freshness and quality of their ingredients (these activities could also be done in collaboration with schools and colleges).
- Engineer — or rather, re-engineer. This could be in terms of the menus, but also in terms of re-engineering the sales process itself — promote ‘health selling' instead of ‘up selling'.
- Empower — Look at ways of incorporating menu options suggested by consumers via recipe competitions.
- Elevate — Work on a positioning which is motivating or inspiring instead of focusing only on the product and selling. Fast food brands also need to build a positioning that is based on ideals that can elevate them from the immediate category context into a metaphor for something more noble.
Given the youth bulge in the region, the transient expatriate workforce and the large tourist influx, fast food is always likely to be popular in the UAE. However, brands that can adopt the 5-E principles stand a much better chance of being able to overcome the growth versus health challenge the category currently faces.
The writer is senior project director at AMRB, a market research consultancy.
