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KFC with Chinese characteristics
By Peter Morris
KFC has just
been granted permission to open its doors in Tibet - the
last province to hold out against the onslaught of
American fast food. The US fast food chain, a unit of
Yum Brands Inc, already has 1,000 outlets in China
(compared with the 570 of McDonald's), and plans to open
hundreds more in 2004. In the run-up to celebrations
marking KFC's 1,000th outlet in the Middle Kingdom,
executives from the Louisville, Kentucky-based Yum
Brands laid out expansion plans for their KFC, Taco Bell
and Pizza Hut restaurants in China, the firm's biggest
market outside the United States.
According to
Yum chairman Peter Bassi, the company's China operations
contributed one-third of Yum's international profits of
US$389 million during fiscal 2002, and its growth rates
for China are in the high teens.
Unlike
McDonald's, KFC has gone to great lengths to localize
its products in China. For instance, several items can
be found on KFC's menu that are specifically tailored
for Chinese market, including congee (rice porridge) and
a soup made of spinach, egg and tomato. And last year,
KFC unveiled its "Old Beijing Twister" - a wrap modeled
after the way Peking duck is served, but with fried
chicken, spring onions and hoisin sauce. In 2001, KFC
introduced the "Mexican chicken wrap" to their China
outlets with much success. The Mexican wrap has spiced
up the menu and, more importantly, laid the groundwork
for the introduction of Mexican fast food (or more
precisely, Mexican-American fast food) to China.
Indeed, Taco Bell also figures prominently in
Yum's China strategy. The wildly popular Mexican
fast-food chain based in Irvine, California, has become
an American icon in recent years, thanks in large part
to the restaurant's mascot, a Spanish-speaking
Chihuahua. Known for innovative product offerings such
as the seven-layer burrito and for being the late night
drive-through of choice for college students and soccer
moms alike, Taco Bell is now poised to make inroads in
the China market this year. Taco Bell's flagship
Shanghai franchise, Taco Bell Grande, opened in May 2003
and will expand beyond Shanghai in 2004.
Selling
Mexican food to Chinese people will be no easy task,
however. Tacos and burritos are all but alien to Chinese
palates, if only because most Chinese have never tried
them. While variants of Taco Bell's ingredients such as
salsa, re-fried beans and tortillas can be found in
China, the fast-food chain may need to alter the
original recipe in order to satisfy Chinese appetites.
Cheese, for example, has never been very popular in
China. Rice has been consumed for thousands of years,
but Mexican rice, with its savory mix of herbs and
spices, may not be appealing to Chinese consumers, who
have been raised on white rice. Chinese red and green
beans are also much different from Mexican re-fried
beans, and the sugary way they are prepared makes
Chinese beans more suitable for breakfast or as a
dessert rather than a burrito.
And so foreigners
who walk into Shanghai's main Taco Bell might be
surprised. Re-fried beans do not figure in the main
courses, the food is apparently not very spicy and the
interior looks more like a TGI Friday's than a Mexican
fast-food joint. The fancy, sit-down-style restaurant is
designed to give urban Chinese a fun, exotic culinary
experience. And the tortilla chips are free in all Taco
Bells in China - a big draw.
If anything, the
expansion of Taco Bell in China will come as a relief to
Americans and other foreigners who rarely have the
chance to enjoy a good chalupa while living abroad. That
may change though as Chinese cities become more
cosmopolitan and young consumers become more adventurous
in their eating habits. Who knows - with fears of a bird
flu crisis in the region - the Chinese may decide that
now is the time to skip the chicken wings in favor of
the almighty seven-layer burrito.
(Copyright
2004 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved.
Please contact content@atimes.com for
information on our sales and syndication policies.)
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