In January, the most popular fast food company in the world, McDonald’s, announced its global sales slid from $28.1 billion in 2013 to $27.4 billion in 2014. Meanwhile, it closed 350 stores in early 2015, apart from the 350 it had previously said it would shutter. Some say this is start of its demise; others claim that fast food chains are actually slowly dying.
But is it true? McDonalds CEO called 2014 a “challenging” year for the company. However, with its annual turnover of more than $27 billion (more than some countries’ annual budgets) and massive workforce of 1.8 million people, the chain seems to be in quite good condition. In comparison, one of its biggest competitors in North America, Burger King, has sales twice as low. But there’s another global leader in the fast food industry despite the decades-long rule of McDonald’s. According to estimates, the company has 34,700 outlets across some 120 countries, feeding nearly 70 million people every day. Subway, on the other hand, reached the 40,000 mark a few years back. Today, the often called “healthier fast food” chain has more than 43,000 restaurants in around 110 countries.
According to a recent data by the Economist, Subway is the top fast food company in a number of markets, including the US., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Russia, India, the UK, and Australia. Leading outlets by country and by person in Europe are those of McDonald’s, while in China, it’s KFC. But there’s a growing trend for adopting “healthier lifestyles” in most parts of the world. People today prefer (or at least they say they prefer) eating more nutritious, healthier foods and beverages. For instance, last year Diet Pepsi sales fell by more than 5% in the U.S. This prompted the company to solve the problem radically – it announced it would drop one of the drink’s key ingredients. Diet Pepsi’s aspartame will be replaced with other artificial sweeteners over the growing consumer concerns about its safety.
Similarly, many fast food chains have started introducing healthier options in their menus. According to analysts, fast food is no longer cool. In McDonald’s case, there’s been a lot of negative advertising in the past couple of years. Now, the restaurant company has a bad image, especially in the U.S., where consumers prefer other brands over its frozen factory food that is packed with salt and preservatives. It seems the Age of McDonald’s is coming to an end. But the Fast Food Age isn’t.
Sandwich giant Subway is expanding faster than ever before and believes there’s still room for growth. According to the company’s most positive predictions, it may have 100,000 locations around the world by 2030. Currently, you can even go to Subway in Zambia or in Iceland, while you won’t be able to order there a Big Mac. So, fast food chains are definitely not dying. There has just been a change in leadership.
