Fast Food in the Philippines Essay

Food is one of the basic necessities of man in order to stay alive. Whether he likes it or not, man needs sufficient amount of food to sustain his being. This need to meet the food intake parallel with the essential meals per day results to the materialization of the food service industry which deals with preparation and sale of food items or products. Therefore, the food service industry will always remain in high demand because of its category. This industry embraces but is not limited to businesses such as fast food restaurants, school and hospital cafeterias, catering operations, food carts, and bakeshops. The term â€Å"Fast food† is commonly attributed to restaurantssometimes known as a quick service restaurants or QSRs. It is a specific type of restaurant characterized both by its fast food cuisine and by minimal table service. The growing popularity of this type of restaurant resulted to changes in the world society. The fast food industry brought shifts to the consumers’ diet, economy, workforce and popular culture. Restaurants and fast foods are meant for same services except that restaurants offer a large menu including a variety of cuisines as compared to fast foods, which usually offers a small menu with quick service. Another difference between a restaurant and fast food is, restaurants offer meals that are cooked and prepared and is eaten at the premises while fast food usually is pre-cooked meals or serves meals that are cooked easily. Diners may eat it inside the store or they can order their food â€Å"to-go†. In fast foods you usually pay before eating unlike full service restaurants. (http://manilareviews.com/2010/07/food-service-industry-philippines.html) Like every other country, the food industry has flourished very well in Philippines. Filipinos love to eat and that’s the reason why you will see a lot of restaurants and fast foods restaurants scattered in the cities. These restaurants and fast foods can be local or international food chains. Filipino food and chefs are considered one of the best in the world. Some of the popular fast food chains of Philippines are Jollibee, McDonald, KFC,  Chowking, etc. and popular restaurants being Abe, Chelsea, Friday’s, Chili’s and a lot more. More and more studies prove the extraordinary growth of the Fast food service industry in the country. In a recent study, fast food retains its position as the largest and the fastest-growing category in the Philippine consumer food service industry. During 2012, this category reported total foodservice revenue of Php 121.9 billion taking 30% of total value sales in consumer food service. Growth in terms of outlets, transactions and value sales remains vibrant brought by the support of increasing number of shopping centers and small community supermarkets in Metro Manila and key cities nationwide. (http://www.marketresearch.com/Euromonitor-International- v746/Fast-Food-Philippines-7890756/) Food served in fast food restaurants typically caters to a â€Å"meat-sweet diet† and is offered from a limited menu; is cooked in bulk in advance and kept hot; is finished and packaged to order; and is usually available ready to take away, though seating may be provided. Fast food restaurants are usually part of a restaurant chain or franchise operation, which provisions standardized ingredients and/or partially prepared foods and supplies to each restaurant through controlled supply channels.