The rise of South Africa's quick service restaurant industry

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to describe the rise of South Africa's quick service restaurant (QSR) industry by examining the structural changes and competitive strategies driving the industry. Design/methodology/approach -The paper uses Michael Porter's Five Forces and secondary data to describe the structural reorganization of South Africa's QSR industry and market positioning strategies being used to respond to the growing industry competition and global challenges. Findings -The paper finds that South Africa's QSR industry has risen tremendously and has expanded globally. The evolving fast food market comprises South African franchises and multinational franchise corporations co-existing with modern supermarkets, contract food caterers, and informal traders. The industry uses a mix of market coordination, operational and competitive strategies to counter the intense global competition. Further research is needed to examine the potential of information communication technologies in QSR industry market coordination and consumer willingness to pay for increased convenience, healthy products, sustainability, and food traceability. Practical implications -South Africa leads the continent in mobile phone penetration and there is scope for QSR managers to integrate mobile commerce when dealing with QSR industry customers and other stakeholders. South Africa's fast food franchises should craft strategies that adapt menus to local cultures and ethnic foods in other countries. With increasing attention on food safety and traceability, South Africa's QSR firms could provide leadership in marketing high quality food and gain competitive advantages through positive industry image. Originality/value -The paper addresses the highly topical issue of rising competition in the fast food industry and successful strategies being utilized by South African firms to penetrate both regional and global markets.

Investigating the antecedents of African fast food customers' loyalty: A self-congruity perspective

“…Marketing and consumer research has analyzed the efforts of fast-food chains, and its consumer behavior implications in several emerging and developing countries (e.g., Watson, 1998;Park, 2004;Baek et al, 2006;Goyal and Singh, 2007;Srivastava, 2015); however, little attention, so far, has been devoted to the African continent, except for a -relative-attention dedicated to South Africa (e.g. Maumbe, 2012). The scarce attention devoted to the fast-food consumption in Africa reflects a general tendency of marketing research, which has, so far, devoted very few contributions to the study of African contexts (Lages et al, 2015).…”

'Value for money' and the restaurant experience: a case study of supply and demand stakeholders

“…With many surrounding businesses in the area where the study was conducted, even a training restaurant, where on average each guest pays over GBP 10 (approximately $US17) for a three-course menu, may be vulnerable to failing to provide an overall satisfying experience. A number of researchers have discussed the critical aspect of competition within the restaurant industry (e.g., Assaf, Deery and Jago, 2011;Horng et al, 2013;Maumbe, 2012). Hence the need for the training restaurant to avoid any form of complacency and maintain consistency in the elements currently perceived as satisfactory, while seeking to improve in others that, as in the case of some atmospheric elements, appear to be in need of improvement.…”

Barriers and enablers to food mass customization

“…The provision of correct information and interoperability allow the coordination of supply chains (Mertins et al , 2012). The adoption of digital platforms for process traceability (Mertins et al , 2012; Maumbe, 2012), communication control business to business (B2B) (Verdouw et al , 2014) and the employment of process simulation software to allow food safety (Halder et al , 2011b) can be alternatives for integrated control.…”