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   F  a  s   t    F  o  o   d
ince 1867 the fast foodindustry has evolved from a hot dogcart on Coney Island to a globalindustry comprised of local,regional, and national chains andfranchises. The term “fast food” canbe defined as, “food prepared inquantity by a standardized methodthat is dispensed quickly atinexpensive restaurants for eatingthere or elsewhere.” The topcompetitors in the industry basedon 2006 sales can be seen in exhibit1.
Kirsten BlantonBen Cheney Yamini NatarajanRyan Roberts Anish ShahMatt Steichen
S
$0$7,500,000$15,000,000$22,500,000$30,000,000
  M  c  D  o  n  a   l  d   ’  s  B  u  r  g  e  r   K  i  n  g   W  e  n  d  y   ’  s  S  u   b  w  a  y   T  a  c  o   B  e   l   l  K  F  C  P  i  z  z  a   H  u  t  S  o  n  i  c  D  o  m  i  n  o   ’  s  A  r   b  y   ’  s
Exhibit 1: Fast food competitors 2006 sales
The McModel: Ensuring the future of the fast food industry
Changing Landscape
With a sales revenue of $ 223.6 billion in 2007 [2], the fast food industry has been experiencingsteady growth. But the growth rate has seen a significant decline over the past couple of years, reflectingthe maturity of the industry. This inevitable stagnation has been caused by several factors such as oversaturation, slowing economy, anti-westernization, the rise of fast casual restaurants, and obesity.
The various players in the category have been trying to combat the losses due to over saturation,anti-westernization, and the rise of fast casual restaurants by developing new products, pricing strategies,and cutting food and labor costs. But, obesity remains as the greatest threat to the long term future of theindustry, as it continues to come under fire for offering high calorie food that lacks sustenance. The drastic
Source: [1] The QSR 50
 
 Adults of Tomorrow
The obesity epidemic is showing no signs ofslowing in the future. Obesity rates among childrenhave tripled over the past 30 years; in 2004, 18% ofchildren were considered obese as opposed to 6% in1980 [3]. It has also been noted that a child who isobese at age 13 has 90% odds of being obese in his orher mid-30s [4]. By 2015, it is projected that 75% ofAmericans will be overweight or obese [5]. Childrenare unable to make proper decisions regarding to theirhealth, and the large amount of fast food advertisingthey consume skews their perception of nutrition [6]
.
As these children become adults they risk carrying negative dietary habits into their adult lives realizinghealth iss
ues after it is too late.
Obesity can have immediately detrimental a
f 
ects on a child’s health, such as type 2diabetes, hypertension, steatohepatitis, depression, and stigma. It is also probable that obesechildren will experience long-term e
f 
ects that include arthritis, cancer, and heart disease [7].According to Dr. David S. Ludwig, director of the obesity program at Children's Hospital Boston,“Obesity is such that this generation of children could be the first basically in the history of theUnited States to live less healthful and shorter lives than their parents” [8].
Fat America
America is experiencing an obesity epidemic; rateshave been consistently rising since the 1970
ʼ
s. Today, 64%of American adults are overweight, and 31% are obese.Obesity is a major cause of preventable death, increasing theprevalence of diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.
A major cause of obesity is due to an Americanlifestyle which revolves around sacrificing long termhealth and happiness for the short term attainment of personal, career, or scholastic goals. By focusing timeon societal measurements for success it becomes easyfor the public to forgo healthier lifestyles, becausegaining a healthy longer life is not an immediately
 
recognizable benefit. Maslow’s Hierarchy of needsshows that food falls into the lowest quadrant of thetriangle.
 
By utilizing the services of a fast food restaurant, a consumer is able to save time andmoney, thus enabling them to attain higher quadrants such as achievement and respect with moreease. It is important to note this insight because it frames the argument that the fast foodindustry is incapable of changing the American culture that revolves around success andadvancement. Rather, the industry has the abilityto provide alternative lifestyle choices that are
05101520
NHANES II (1976-80)NHANES (1999-00)NHANES (2003-04)
Age 6-11 yearsAGE 12-19 years
Prevalence of Overweight Among U.S. Children andAdolescents
Source: Gadola
rise in obesity has caught the attention of many lawmakers, parents, doctors, lawyers, and activists. Thisattention has caused fast food to become the main cause of obesity in the public
ʼ
s eye, which has tarnishedits image.
This poses short-term and long-term risks to the industry. Successfully addressing the issue wouldaffect the industry in areas besides sales and profits as well. The declining image of the entire fast foodindustry would receive a face lift by being the pioneer in the battle against the bulge.
Source: Maslow’s Hierarchy [21]
 
 The Industry Must Make A Change
In order to ensure a successful future, theindustry will take action where they can have the mostimpact, the fight against obesity. The fast food industryneeds to be an architect for the “Health Revolution” fortwo primary reasons - sustenance of the industry andthe preservation of the health of the customers.
Julian Mellentin, international functional foodconsultant said, "Health is the future of food, for nowand forevermore. Any company that doesn't have somekind of health strategy will find itself left further andfurther behind" [9]. All changes must be actionablewhile maintaining the core of what fast food means to itsconsumer base. The pillars of time, price, taste, andconvenience are symbolic not only of that whichfostered its growth for over half a century. When lookingto make changes for the long-term benefit of theindustry, these four pillars will not be removed. Americahas grown to support the mantra that faster is better, anaspect of fast food that is as fundamental as the burgersand fries. It is for this reason that the pillars of fast foodare here to stay, and will remain a prominent staple in both society and the fast food industry.
The industry
ʼ
s image is tarnished, lawsuits are piling up, and growth is slowing.
McModel
Implementing positive change for tomorrow is amultistep process that will take several years of continuousdevelopment.
The McModel would provide a structuredapproach to track the fast food industry as it movesinto the future. With this we can anticipate howindividual restaurants would be brought into thefunnel of change
.
The Transtheoretical Model [10], which predictsthe outcome of a person
ʼ
s behavior change with regard totheir health, is the inspiration for the McModel.
The intentof the model is to provide actionable steps for theindustry to follow to reinvigorate their product lifecycle and preserve their future in American culture.
Understanding that this will take several years tofully implement and individually adopt, it will be the vehicleused to push the industry towards a healthier future. Asfigure __ shows, the model is comprised of five steps:observation, commitment, groundwork, performance, and
PerformanceGroundwork ObservationCommitmentSustainmentPerformanceGroundwork CommitmentSustainmentObservation
The Model demonstrates how the industry willfunnel through each stage, but also shows theadoption of the model by individual restaurants.The model also shows that individual restaurants join the ribbon at different points after carefulconsideration. As time progresses, they evolvethrough the steps of the McModel.
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too much problems regarding downloads

reply08 / 16 / 2010
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