Reflections on the Human Condition - Api-fellowships.org

166 SESSION III
Table 6: Top ten transnational corporations in
food manufacturing and processing by total sales
in 1998.
Sales Profit Chief Products Employees
(US$billion) (US$billion)
Phillip Morris 56.11 6.31 Tobacco, cereals, beverages 152,000
Cargill 51.00 4.68 Cereals, seeds, oils, beverages 80,000
Unilever 50.06 7.94 Oils, dairy, beverages, meals 287,000
Nestle 49.96 4.11 Beverages, cereals, infant food 225,808
Pepsico 20.92 1.49 Beverages, snacks 142,000
Sara Lee 20.01 -0.53 Meat and bakery 139,000
Coca-Cola 18.87 4.13 Beverages, foods 29,500
McDonalds 11.41 1.64 Restaurants 267,000
Globalization has also created a common cultural
environment where people have access to common
source of information through corporate networks of
television and other mass media. This has also lead to
global consumption culture where the TNCs in food
manufacturing and supplies have captured the global
consumers. Therefore globalization of the food
industry played a key role in affecting the global diets
and food consumption, which ultimately determine the
nutritional and health status of the population. (Sobal,
2001; Yach, 2003)
It need to be remembered to that food is something special,
a gift of life, to certain culture; food, different from
other commodity, is closely linked to self-perception
and formed part of a wider social existence. According
to Barthes (1979): “When he buys an item of food, consumes
it, or serves it, modern man does not manipulate
a simple object in a purely transitive fashion; this item
of food sums and transmits a situation; it constitutes
information; it signifies”.
FAST FOOD PHENOMENA
What is normally termed as “fast foods” are quick,
reasonably priced, and readily available alternatives to
home cooking. While convenient and economical for
people who busy and no time to prepare home meals,
fast foods are typically high in calories, fat, saturated fat,
sugar, and salt. Fast foods are very appealing because
they are widely available and inexpensive
According to Eric Schlosser (2002), “the collapse of
Soviet Communism has led to an unprecendented
“Americanization” of the world, expressed in the
growing popularity of movies, CDs, music videos,
television shows, and clothing from the United States.
Unlike those commodities, fast food is the one form
of American culture that foreign consumers literally
consume”. The growth of fast food in Asia is not new;
Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) for example has its first
outlet in the Philippines in 1967.
Ref lections on the Human Condition: Change, Conflict and Modernity
The Work of the 2004/2005 API Fellows
Fast food industry in Southeast Asia has grown several
folds in the last 3 decades. The two major fast food
chains, KFC has made its presence in Southeast Asia
since 1970s, while McDonald’s came in the 1980s, and
later came Pizza Hut (Tables 7, 8, and 9). The number
of outlets and when it was first established in Southeast
Asian countries for KFC and McDonald’s are shown in
Tables 7 and 8. KFC was established in the Philippines
in 1967, which was the earliest Asian outlet, followed
by Japan and Malaysia, in 1970 and 1973, respectively.
In terms of the number of population per outlet, Malaysia
has the smallest ratio with one outlet per 70,000, while
Indonesia has one outlet per 1.16 million. In 2004
there were 3774 McDonald’s outlets in Japan, and the
ratio of outlet per population also show that Japan has
the lowest ratio with one outlet per 30,000 people, next
is Malaysia, with 140,000 people per outlet. Pizza Hut
came later in Southeast Asia, however their number of
outlets is growing, in 2002, there 94 outlets in Malaysia,
with a population ratio of 240,000 people per outlet.
Table 7: KFC outlets in Southeast Asia and Japan.
Countries First Number of Year Population Population(million)
Established Outlets (million) Per KFC Outlet
Indonesia 1979 201 2003 234 1.16
Malaysia 1973 325 2005 24 0.07 ( 70 thousands)
Thailand 1984 305 2003 64 0.21 (210 thousands)
Philippines 1967 130 2004 87 0.67 (670 thousands)
Japan 1970 1140 2004 127 0.11 (110 thousands)
Table 8: McDonald’s outlets in Southeast Asia and Japan.
Countries First Number of Year
Established Outlets
Indonesia - 109 2004
Population Population (million)
Per McDonald’s
(million) Outlet
241 2.21
Malaysia 1982 164 2004 23 0.14 (140 thousands)
Thailand 1985 99 2004 64 0.65 (650 thousands)
Philippines 1981 242 2004 87 0.36 (360 thousands)
Japan 1970 3774 2004 127 0.03 ( 30 thousands)
Table 9: Pizza Hut outlets in Southeast Asia and Japan.
Countries Number of Year Population Population (million)
Outlets (million) Per Pizza Hut Outlet
Indonesia 69 2002 231 3.35 mill.
Malaysia 94 2002 23 0.24 mill. (240 thousands)
Thailand 83 2002 62 0.75 mill. (750 thousands)
Philippines 93 2002 85 0.91 mill. (910 thousands)
Japan 293 2002 127 0.43 mill. (430 thousands)
METHODOLOGY
This study incorporated both the quantitative and
qualitative approaches:
The information gathering and data collection for this
project consisted mainly of secondary data and small
samples of primary data. The primary data was