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I’d say they’re responding to different market demands.

by brookst 2y ago

TehCorwiz 2y ago
Yeah, the rest of the world has laws that demand minimum product quality.
- daseiner1 2y ago
  I’d love to hear the inside baseball on how a committee determines “minimum product quality” for a fried chicken sandwich.
  - UberFly 2y ago
    Right, or they force you to order lettuce and tomato to peel off or no sandwich for you.
  - ryandrake 2y ago
    There is probably a valuable formula hidden in a safe at KFC showing how little chicken and how much breading/sawdust they can get away with using, to optimize profit.
ricardobayes 2y ago
Definitely. Dining out regularly, even at fast food places, is not necessarily a usual, or normal thing for lots of Europeans. Most "middle-class" people I know, like teachers or so, dine out probably a few times a year to celebrate an event. Groceries are cheap and fresh and people have less disposable income in Europe, generally. Fast food's biggest competitor is home cooking. It's also the reason why we prefer (or preferred) diesel vehicles here.
- opo 2y ago
  This likely varies by country in Europe and even what part of the country (rural vs urban). For example, a survey done in Germany found the following distribution of how often people went to a restaurant: Once a month: 44% A few times a month: 34% Once a week: 13% Several times a week: 7% https://www.statista.com/statistics/1085317/dining-out-habits-in-germany/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1085317/dining-out-habit...
- wkat4242 2y ago
  Depends very highly on region. Here in Spain it's very very common to eat out for our lunch break at work. We don't even have a full canteen at the office because everyone just goes to the local restaurants anyway. For around 12€ you get a daily rotating menu with a few choices for starter, main, dessert or coffee and a drink. And it's a nice relaxed experience rather than a quick canteen sandwich while everyone looks at their watch. Eating out at lunch time is so common almost all restaurants do these cheap menus and are pretty full. During the night it's more for special occasions and a la carte with higher pricing. Many restaurants around the office don't even open at night as they don't get the volume.
- albrewer 2y ago
  > Groceries are cheap and fresh I took my kids to the Netherlands a few years ago; in the week we stayed there, they wiped out almost every berry the local (very small) grocery store had in stock. My kids couldn't believe how much tastier they were compared to what we could buy back home.
Der_Einzige 2y ago
Americans current market demands are bad for society and bad for the Americans that purport to demand the food slop they call fast food that we are served. Americans would be infinitely happier with the overseas model of our fast food, no matter what suits or pencil pushers claim.
- brookst 2y ago
  Sounds like you can make a fortune by hitting this untapped market.

I’d say they’re responding to different market demands.

TehCorwiz 2y ago

Yeah, the rest of the world has laws that demand minimum product quality.

daseiner1 2y ago
I’d love to hear the inside baseball on how a committee determines “minimum product quality” for a fried chicken sandwich.
- UberFly 2y ago
  Right, or they force you to order lettuce and tomato to peel off or no sandwich for you.
- ryandrake 2y ago
  There is probably a valuable formula hidden in a safe at KFC showing how little chicken and how much breading/sawdust they can get away with using, to optimize profit.

ricardobayes 2y ago

Definitely. Dining out regularly, even at fast food places, is not necessarily a usual, or normal thing for lots of Europeans. Most "middle-class" people I know, like teachers or so, dine out probably a few times a year to celebrate an event. Groceries are cheap and fresh and people have less disposable income in Europe, generally. Fast food's biggest competitor is home cooking. It's also the reason why we prefer (or preferred) diesel vehicles here.

opo 2y ago
This likely varies by country in Europe and even what part of the country (rural vs urban). For example, a survey done in Germany found the following distribution of how often people went to a restaurant: Once a month: 44% A few times a month: 34% Once a week: 13% Several times a week: 7% https://www.statista.com/statistics/1085317/dining-out-habits-in-germany/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1085317/dining-out-habit...
wkat4242 2y ago
Depends very highly on region. Here in Spain it's very very common to eat out for our lunch break at work. We don't even have a full canteen at the office because everyone just goes to the local restaurants anyway. For around 12€ you get a daily rotating menu with a few choices for starter, main, dessert or coffee and a drink. And it's a nice relaxed experience rather than a quick canteen sandwich while everyone looks at their watch. Eating out at lunch time is so common almost all restaurants do these cheap menus and are pretty full. During the night it's more for special occasions and a la carte with higher pricing. Many restaurants around the office don't even open at night as they don't get the volume.
albrewer 2y ago
> Groceries are cheap and fresh I took my kids to the Netherlands a few years ago; in the week we stayed there, they wiped out almost every berry the local (very small) grocery store had in stock. My kids couldn't believe how much tastier they were compared to what we could buy back home.

Der_Einzige 2y ago

Americans current market demands are bad for society and bad for the Americans that purport to demand the food slop they call fast food that we are served. Americans would be infinitely happier with the overseas model of our fast food, no matter what suits or pencil pushers claim.

brookst 2y ago
Sounds like you can make a fortune by hitting this untapped market.