Fast Food Consumer Analysis

Additionally, the number of fast food brands, branches, and companies are continuously increasing through time. In the Philippines, a survey conducted by the National Statistics Office showed that there were 2,535 fast food establishments existing nationwide during 2009. The number increased by more than a hundred percent during the following year, recorded by Euromonitor International, amounting to 5,411 stores (Bautista 2). The United States on the other hand, according to the data from NPD, is “home to more than 313,000 fast-food and fast-casual restaurants” (qtd. in Nichols). And as of December 2013, United Kingdom has a total of 27,530 fast food restaurants. This means that for every 2,287 people within their population of 63 million,

Therefore, aside from these two, fast food companies offer their consumers value for money by offering highly appealing foods in terms of taste with prices that are competitive; in other words, affordable for most people. An important characteristic of food which plays a major role in maintaining the industry’s popularity is none other than flavor. In general, fast food restaurants offer foods which are rich in salt, sugar, or fat. Fast food companies incorporate these ingredients in their menu items as they are considered palatable. According to Kessler, in ordinary terms, people consider food as palatable if it has an “agreeable taste” however, when explained scientifically, it is referred to as “[the] capacity [of food] to stimulate appetite and prompt us to eat more” (12). By simply observing fast food menus, one can see how often burgers, French fries, fried chicken, and sodas are included – all of which are sweet, salty, or fatty. In addition, fast food restaurants carefully formulate their food recipes to appeal to a greater amount of people. In other words, food engineers and manufacturers see to it that the flavors of food they calibrate “harmonize” (Juele, “How Fast” 3). On the other hand, prices being relatively cheap and affordable are often influenced by competition among fast food companies.

As stated in an article of the local newspaper The Philippine Star, “Obesity as a form of malnutrition often coexists with under-nutrition and results from shifts from local and traditional diets to foods that are increasingly heavy in salt, sugar and fat or processed foods” (Torres). In terms of rates, the increase in the number of overweight and obese people on a global scale has been quite rapid for the past few years. On the same article, it was stated that during the period of 1908 to 2008, prevalence of being overweight and obese among adults increased from 24 to 34 percent while reported cases for children increased from 6 to 12 percent