Future Trends of Fast Food Industry

Change for tomorrow is a multistep process that will take several years of Continuous
development. The McModel would provide a structured approach.This’ll track the fast food
industry into the future.

According to McModel Promise

Each stage of the model serves a specific purpose that demonstrates how fast food companies
will guide their entities towards one single promise: convert the fast food industry from one that
promotes food that lacks sustenance to an industry that promotes a healthy lifestyle to its
customers from the menu and beyond. By following the model, fast food companies will
promote functionality internally to its employees and externally to its customers through
physical, emotional, and social initiatives.

Stage 1: Observation: 2002-2010

Gain background knowledge of industry problem.
The observation stage is where the problem facing the industry is recognized. Fearful of negative
repercussions, the industry has failed in the past to make permanent directional moves. The fast
food industry has already begun to react to consumer demands for healthier fast food. Over the
past few years, several fast food companies have introduced healthier menu options, such as
premium salads and sandwiches. Some companies have also begun promoting a healthy lifestyle
that stretches beyond their doors. McDonalds introduced the Go Active! Adult Happy Meal in
2004, which comes with a pedometer, encouraging walking as a supplement to a healthy
lifestyle. There has also been a technological movement towards healthier versions of well
established favorites. In 2006, KFC introduced trans fat free chicken, mashed potatoes.Other
companies have begun to jump on the bandwagon also. Wendy’s, Burger King, and McDonalds
have all taken steps towards implementing the use of trans fat free oils in their restaurants.
Stage 2: Commitment: 2010-2013
Gain internal support for change:
In order to make significant changes in the health of the industry and the consumers, fast food
companies will start making business decisions with the end promise in mind.Full commitment is
mandated at this stage. First, pros and cons are weighed in the nutritional change that is
proposed, and then the promise is made. Because external products cannot be offered yet, this
stage is comprised largely of internal initiatives.

Educational Employee Motivation Program:

The employees are the link between the company and the customer. If the employees are not
educated and excited about the new initiatives, they will not be invested, which is vital to
success. Education of employees on the new health improvements is as difficult as it is
important. The fast food industry has a yearly turnover rate of 123% [13], making education of
employees costly and wasteful.Therefore, a retention program that provides a valuable benefit for
the employees is necessary to make the education cost efficient.This educational employee
motivation program encourages employees to live healthier lifestyles through benefits that are
tied to healthier choices.In order to earn benefits, employees must earn points with a Health Tag,
which can be completed in several different ways.Employees will earn points for taking monthly
online health training courses, exercising at gyms regularly, and eating healthy food.The point
value they earn for each activity will be added to their balance, which is accumulated
by swiping the Health Tag, and is dependent on the length of their tenure with the company.

Stage 3: Groundwork: 2013-2018

Get consistent messaging implemented
Confidence has been gained from the initial changes and positive results.After the internal
initiatives have been set in motion, companies will begin to lay the groundwork for external
changes.This is the stagewhere internal planning is made, and heavy research and development is
utilized to set up the long-termfuture.External changes are meant to initiate the commitment to a
healthier future.
Portion Sizes:
Caloric intake can be reduced by decreasing the portion size. America has become the land of
over-consumption, causing a direct parallel to the rise in obesity.Providing large portions
contributes to obesity by tempting consumers to eat more than they would otherwise.
McDonald’s discontinued its Supersize campaign and Wendy’s stopped the use of the terms
Biggie and Great Biggie, but it seems that they simply renamed the sizes as opposed to reducing
the portions.

Stage 4: Performance: 2018-2025

See positive customer reaction throughout industry
The industry will begin to make larger internal and external business decisions in this phase
which follow the original promise. Product changes are implemented at this stage. Even though
many companies have begun to initiate the change with healthier options, this more
comprehensive transformation is no longer a split between healthy versus unhealthy food
offerings. It is no longer acceptable for a restaurant to sell a Double Quarter Pounder® with
Cheese that has 740 calories [17]; even the signature items will be transformed into healthier
options. The food at fast food establishments will all be brought to an acceptable level of
nutrition value. This can be achieved through several different approaches.

Ingredients
The ingredients used in fast food are a large part of what makes it unhealthy. The future looks
into minimizing the ingredients that are high in calories and high in fat in order to make offerings
healthier as a whole. The pillar of taste provides a notable challenge; many of the unhealthy
ingredients contribute heavily to the taste that people have grown to love and is one of the main
reasons people purchase fast food. But, as technology progresses, scientists will find ways to
replace the unhealthy ingredients with healthier alternatives that keep taste consistent.
Reinvigorate the Fast Food Industry
By 2025 the fast food industry will have transformed from a food provider that preys on its
consumers to one that serves a specific health benefit while maintaining timelines, low price,
taste, and connivence. With the introduction of functional foods infused with ingredients that
combat disease, an additional pillar will be added to the support of the fast food industry:
functional. Consumers will come to appreciate the added benefit of foods that provide added
benefit to their lives. Once the full actualization of the McModel is reached all business efforts
will uphold the promise to

Promote a healthy lifestyle from the menu through all aspects that the brand touches, and in
doing so the customers’ life expectancy will increase providing greater customer lifetime value.
As consumers become healthier, critics will be silenced, decreasing the need to sink the millions
of dollars into lobbying against the government to ease off regulation, Providing products that
support a life style beyond food consumption will increase the industries image and cause the
consumer to rely on the fast food brands as more of a daily option as opposed to once or twice a
week; thus generating greater profits. The industry is taking the health initiatives beyond its
menus and into the lives of its employees and customers by promoting and acknowledging the
importance of good health. The internal initiatives employed in the industry will convert the
employees into advocates of healthy lifestyles, which will be vital in the positive evolution of the
industry in the future