Hong Kong's Fast-Food Industry

Abstract

By 1993 the quick-service-restaurant segment constituted 13 percent of the restaurant market in Hong Kong, where households spend more than half their food budgets on dining out. In addition to Western operations, Cafe de Coral, Maxim's, and Fairwood are Chinese-style fast-food chains that are replacing mom-and-pop dim sum and noodle shops. Despite rapid growth, fast-food chains face challenges: intense competition to the point of saturation, high inflation, rent escalation, labor shortages, and political uncertainty. International fast-food chains offer a core producthamburger, chicken, or pizza-and their strategies are focused on image building through aggressive marketing. By comparison, Chinese-style fastfood chains are product-oriented and offer great variety. International fastfood chains are expanding through franchising; local fast-food companies are expanding through private (family) ownership.