Kentucky Fried Chicken Restaurant in China Essay Paper

Today, companies operating in the food industry are struggling for the new markets and implementing new strategies and products targeting at the expansion of their share in the markets worldwide. Among largest companies operating in the food industry, it is possible to name the KFC, which controls a substantial part of the world market of fast food restaurants and services KFC and continue their expansion. One of the recent trends in the development of KFC is the expansion of the company in Asian markets, especially in China.

However, often such companies as KFC face the opposition of the public because the problem of nutrition is extremely important, especially in the situation when fast food industry has become particularly popular and widely spread. As a result, the problem of the quality of food, suggested by such fast food giants as KFC, is very important.

In this respect, it is very important to the public to have information about technologies used in food production and lack of information about food available to consumers. But, as a rule, such companies as KFC do not reveal their secrets that, nonetheless, do not prevent them from leadership in many markets in different countries of the world.

On the other hand, entering new markets, such as the market of China, they have to adapt their cuisine, products and services to local traditions. At the same time, in spite of the necessity of adaption to local markets, KFC keeps developing its business in China because it is one of the major ways to improve its competitive position and maintain one of the leading positions in the global fast food market.

At the present moment the company unites several very powerful and well-known brands. KFC is one of the most popular brands that constitute an essential part of the company. KFC is mainly known for its fried chicken and this product is a kind of the symbol of KFC. KFC has a long history and is traditionally considered to be one of the most popular fast food restaurants competing with McDonalds (Porter, 2002). On the other hand, the growing competition forces KFC to expand its presence on international markets to resist to the domination of McDonalds.

In fact, the Chinese market is particularly prospective because China used to be closed for foreign investments until the late 1980s, while the development of the local fast food industry is very poor. Thus, Chinese market has low entering barriers, especially for such a giant as KFC. Hence, KFC can gain a large share of Chinese market through the development of its restaurant chain in this country. In this respect, it is necessary to take into consideration the fact that China has a huge potential since it is one of the largest and densely populated countries in the world that makes the national market strategically important for the further expansion in Asia.

At the same time, KFC keep growing and one of its recent creations is East Dawning. This company is a fusion of the KFC business model with Chinese cuisine, which is specifically targeting at the local fast food market. Unlike many other Asian fast food restaurants, East Dawning restaurants are more spacious and possess better lighting (Wilkins, 1999). KFC, is a chain of fast food restaurants widely known in the entire world due to its famous fried chicken which is cooked in accordance with a specific recipe that is historically hidden from the wide public and which make the company’s product unique and really attracting for customers (Viardot, 2001).

In the current economic situation, it is obvious that KFC cannot progress and gain larger share of international market using only traditional products. In stark contrast, nowadays the necessity of changes has become as obvious as it has never been before. It is quite a natural process since the companies united under KFC has a strategic goal to enter new markets that is impossible in fast food market because different regions of the world have different gastronomic tastes and preferences (Wilkins, 1999). As a result, products that are popular in one country will not necessarily be accepted in another country. Hence, KFC has chosen the strategy of adaptation of its products to local food traditions preserving corporate culture and standards of work, focusing on the high quality of services.

Thus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is possible to conclude that the growing competition and the process of globalization stimulate, if not to say force, KFC to expand its presence on international markets and enter the Chinese market. The latter can strengthen the position of KFC in Asia and bring considerable profits to the company due to the huge potential of the Chinese market.



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