The Fast Food Industry

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that a faster-paced lifestyle with more women joining the workforce results in the detriment of "traditional" American family meals, but it is an enormous advantage to the fast food industry; virtually everyone loves fast food, even though there are concerns about health, and the industry is firmly established around the world. The author points out that the multi-billion dollar fast food industry today is said to have been started in 1936 by Maria del Gray, who named the original McDonald's after her fiancee who was killed in a vehicular accident; Ray Kroc later founded the McDonald's franchise system based on del Gray's McDonald's. The paper concludes the process of "McDonaldization" continues to spread the inexorable forces of capitalism and standardized food products around the world; everyone is eating fast foods, even if they are protesting it as soon as they are finished with their burgers and fries.

Table of Contents
Review and Discussion
Background and Overview
Social Effects
Structural Changes in the Fast Food Industry
Figure: Franchise Percentages Owned by Parent Company as of 1991
Current and Future Trends
"McDonaldization"
Fast Food's Impact on Health
Focus on Service
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Today, the fast food industry has evolved in a number of important ways from the early days of Maria del Gray's McDonalds. The fast food industry is highly competitive, but remains fairly homogeneous and nonunion; however, some restaurant outlets are owned and operated by parent companies while others are owned and operated by individual franchisees. In a typical franchise agreement, the franchisor (known as the parent company) grants the franchisee a license to operate a standardized restaurant with a specified technology and widely recognized trademark; in exchange, the franchisee pays the parent company a fixed fee and a monthly royalty on gross sales (Krueger says this is generally 8 percent). In some instances, the franchisee will be required to post an explicit performance bond as well. The total start-up cost of a franchised restaurant in a major chain is ordinarily between $400,000 and $600,000."

More papers on The Fast Food Industry:

• Persuasive Essay # 144456 : "The Impact of the Fast Food Industry"
• Analytical Essay # 144235 : "The Rise and Growth of the Fast Food Industry"
• Persuasive Essay # 148174 : "The Perils of the Fast Food Industry"
• Research Paper # 102866 : "The Fast Food Industry in the US and Beyond"

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