Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Of Burger King and Those non Fast Food Thoughts

I remembered having a conversation with a friend during lunch last week about why there is no Burger King (BK) in Penang.

He said that there should be ample opportunities for a BK to thrive in Penang since its burgers are much better than the usual McDonald's. Not to mention the former seems a rarity up here in the northern region.

And the typical me tried to tell him that the burgers from these two fast-food chains - prepare their burgers differently...BK has theirs flame-grilled and therefore, in my opinion tastes better. While the burgers by McDonalds are different...don't how to explain it, but the method is just not the same. It's like KFC sells better fried chicken than McDonalds...(some might disagree though ;p).

Anyway, it came to the point when my friend said that he would go for a burger at BK every time he goes down to KL for a visit. And that ended any arguments from me - it's hard convincing a fan. Plus his question - more like incredulity - on why there were no BK outlets in Penang.

Well, perhaps now his hope of tasting these flame-grilled burgers could be fulfilled. According to this piece of news, Burger King is set to open up another 50 new outlets in Malaysia. Might be that one would end up in Penang.

Hm...Penang really doesn't have one? Strange...
Looking at how Asians like their fast food, I would have thought Burger King to cash in on the money opportunity far sooner. Anyway, the news report as follows:
Cosmo Restaurants Sdn Bhd, a franchisee of fast food Burger King restaurants in Malaysia, will spend 27 million ringgit (8 million U.S. dollars) to open 50 outlets throughout Malaysia in the next five years, local media reported on Monday.

Its director of operations Khaled Hammam made the announcement after opening the third Burger King outlet in Malaysian southern Johor state, which features a 24-hour drive-through on Saturday.

The restaurant is its 22nd outlet in Malaysia.

There are now five round-the-clock Burger King restaurants in the country, and six are in petrol kiosks.

"We are keeping an open mind and may open outlets in shopping malls if the terms and location are feasible," the New Straits Times quoted Khaled as saying.

Although drive-throughs generate attractive returns, not all of the 50 new outlets which the company is planning to open will have the service, Khaled said.

"It is not easy to find a good location and we also need a big area to set up a drive-through," Khaled said.

Burger King ranks the fourth by number of outlets in Malaysia's fast food market, after KFC, McDonald's and Pizza Hut. - Xinhuanet.com


The non-fast food thoughts...


But here's the thing. In my opinion, these so-called fast foods in Malaysia are clearly overpriced. It might not be overrated, since I do like a burger or two and pieces of fried chicken occasionally, but it is nonetheless overpriced.

I would have thought that because things in Asia are relatively cheaper than say, the more advanced countries, the prices should be set according to the cost and standard of living of the local area. And while it's definitely considered "fast food" in places like the UK, but in Asia, food from McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, etc. rank under the luxury food item. How did less than healthy food stuff become a luxury when there are far better and tastier food around the local corner.

But from a Malaysian perspective, I had to reconsider...is it overpricing OR is it just that we have low buying power. As an example, I was buying coffee at Starbucks with a friend the other day and the conversation came up on how expensive a cup of coffee can be from Starbucks, where else a cup of white coffee from Old Town next door costs far less. OK, one is local and the other is a "branded" product from the US - but the contents and even the taste are not so different. So of course, we would ask why the "branded" one needs to be so much more expensive.

Another thought came to me then. What if I was earning about twice my monthly income? Wouldn't that make a cup of RM10 Starbucks coffee seem affordable - even cheap? Then the flow of thought went down to...why are we earning less than our counterparts in more developed countries?

A whole host of other theories flooded through my mind then...on how the stupid inflation rate numbers the government is showing; how private companies will use these numbers when they decide on increments for their employees; and on how the hell the did the government not do more to raise our competitiveness and economic levels - so that we can buy more with a single RM.

Sigh...too many problems that is not my domain to talk about. And a lot of people say that this country sux...I cannot disagree. But then I still think that if it sux, surely it needs fixing, right? And who else but the people living in it? I know, I know...I'm being naive again. Haha...someone has to be naive when so many are thinking of leaving the country, no?

I believe that there is more than hope for those of us who chose to stay...because without it...what else is there to ensure survival? Why else do we complain so hard? Why else do we even care?

Maybe because we chose to be a part of it.

2 comments:

  1. not just fast food but everything else are over-priced in malaysia. it's a combination of poor purchasing power top up with poor handling of the economy.

    indeed... how can fast food... considered unhealthy food in europe turn out to be luxury in malaysia? that's the power of marketing guess...

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  2. zewt: Yup...a RM50 note doesn't last long in Msia - even if we stick to the basic necessities...

    Since I have seen the perception of fast food overseas, it made me wondered why Malaysians in general have not come to make the same judgment on fast food. Perhaps like you said, it's the power of marketing...making these branded names and all. But still, I can't see it as a luxury food item.

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