"Come and get some soulfood..."
—Goodie Mob
In 2003, I caught a 60 Minutes segment on Frito-Lay. Like most U.S. conglomerates, they’re working their hustle overseas. And they’d found an untapped market in of all places, The Netherlands. Guess what the biggest barrier to entry is? For the most part, Netherlanders see snack chips the same way our parents and grandparents once saw burgers—as a specialty item. To most Netherlanders, potato chips are a sit-down, after-dinner, every now ‘n’ then type of thing. They really don’t buy ‘em much. But they have a ton of young people with lots of disposable income. Ah, if we could only convince them that they can’t eat just one…
So Frito-Lay is spending millions on Consumption Opportunities—convincing these folks that potato chips should be eaten way more often for reasons other than just hunger and dessert. It may take a few years, possibly a generation, but once they come around, Lays’ will start stacking chips like a casino. And once that happens, the floodgates will be opened on all sorts of other processed foods and fast food ventures. Before you know it those Netherlanders will be built like snowmen. And it’s just the beginning.
As other countries become more Americanized, our multinational food hustlers are moving in for the kill.
In January 2004, KFC opened its 1,000th outlet in China with hundreds more expected to come.3 In the same month Pizza Hut opened its 300th restaurant in South Korea.4 Also, McDonald’s is expected to add at least 100 new outlets to its current 560 Chinese spots by 2005.5 And besides China’s billion plus mouths, India, with nearly 1 billion folks of its own has also become a hotbed for America’s fast food and sugar hustlers. So don’t be surprised if obesity and diet-related illnesses eventually become problems in these parts of the world, too. And if all goes according to plan in the Middle East you’ll see “Oil for Oreos” programs within a couple generations.
But this is nothing new. American businesses have done this at home for decades. Besides hamburgers, pasta used to be strictly a dinner dish. Now pasta is lunch, a side dish, an in-between-meals snack for kids, fuel for a workout. We’ve flipped most of our favorite candies and candy bars into breakfast cereals. Tacos and quesadillas have become the new chicken—folks have begun inhaling ‘em like popcorn shrimp. (By the way, how much of IHOP, Taco Bell and Denny’s revenue comes from drunken bar patrons binging at 3am?) God bless Consumption Opportunities.
Soul Food?
Another consumption opportunity is borne of Americans need to consume other cultures. Traditionally, food was a form of cultural expression. Food marketers have tapped into that by positioning ethnic cuisine as tourist attractions for folks looking to explore.
The result has made tortillas the domain of Doritos and Tostitos while burritos have been reduced to “wraps” leaving actual burritos to be sold in gas stations. Taco Bell owns tacos. And whether it’s Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, etc. all Asian cuisine has been reduced to Chinese Food/Take-Out, Sushi, or Ramen Noodles. We’ve reduced Italian cuisine to pizza, pasta, whatever’s-on-The-Sopranos, and Spaghetti-Os. Indian cuisine is simply “curry.” Irish cuisine is Guinness. Soul Food is now anything fried or dipped in hot sauce. Even most all so-called “fusion cuisine” is fused to appease mainstream taste buds.
Ethically, it’s just supply meeting demand. But morally, one could argue that it’s just another way in which business degrades and dismantles ethnic cultures and by extension ethnic people in the name of catering to a gluttonous consumer culture.
So Frito-Lay is spending millions on Consumption Opportunities—convincing these folks that potato chips should be eaten way more often for reasons other than just hunger and dessert. It may take a few years, possibly a generation, but once they come around, Lays’ will start stacking chips like a casino. And once that happens, the floodgates will be opened on all sorts of other processed foods and fast food ventures. Before you know it those Netherlanders will be built like snowmen. And it’s just the beginning.
As other countries become more Americanized, our multinational food hustlers are moving in for the kill.
In January 2004, KFC opened its 1,000th outlet in China with hundreds more expected to come.3 In the same month Pizza Hut opened its 300th restaurant in South Korea.4 Also, McDonald’s is expected to add at least 100 new outlets to its current 560 Chinese spots by 2005.5 And besides China’s billion plus mouths, India, with nearly 1 billion folks of its own has also become a hotbed for America’s fast food and sugar hustlers. So don’t be surprised if obesity and diet-related illnesses eventually become problems in these parts of the world, too. And if all goes according to plan in the Middle East you’ll see “Oil for Oreos” programs within a couple generations.
Soul Food?
Another consumption opportunity is borne of Americans need to consume other cultures. Traditionally, food was a form of cultural expression. Food marketers have tapped into that by positioning ethnic cuisine as tourist attractions for folks looking to explore.
The result has made tortillas the domain of Doritos and Tostitos while burritos have been reduced to “wraps” leaving actual burritos to be sold in gas stations. Taco Bell owns tacos. And whether it’s Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, etc. all Asian cuisine has been reduced to Chinese Food/Take-Out, Sushi, or Ramen Noodles. We’ve reduced Italian cuisine to pizza, pasta, whatever’s-on-The-Sopranos, and Spaghetti-Os. Indian cuisine is simply “curry.” Irish cuisine is Guinness. Soul Food is now anything fried or dipped in hot sauce. Even most all so-called “fusion cuisine” is fused to appease mainstream taste buds.
Ethically, it’s just supply meeting demand. But morally, one could argue that it’s just another way in which business degrades and dismantles ethnic cultures and by extension ethnic people in the name of catering to a gluttonous consumer culture.
