Even though fast food chains like McDonalds and Burger King offer smarter options like salads and wraps, we all associate them with greasy and unhealthy food. This is an image that most fast foods joints are going to try and change in 2015.
People want real food, not preservatives, and that is the major change that these companies are going to try to make an effort to do. Casual food chains like Chipotle, Salad Works, and Panera all offer this freshness that chains like McDonalds and Burger King are missing.
“This demand for fresh and real is on the rise,” says Greg Creed, the CEO of chains like Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut.
McDonald’s USA President, Mike Andres, asks the question, “Why do we need to have preservatives in our food?” He states that they go through their food fast enough that they should be able to have fresh ingredients in their restaurants.
This upcoming need to make things healthier is affecting everything from chicken and burger meat, to soft drinks and bread. For example a teenager petitioned for PepsiCo to remove bromide vegetable oil from Gatorade because it is not allowed to be used in some parts of the world. Subway who proclaims to “eat fresh” is making sure there are no preservatives in their bread going forward, and Chick-Fil-A said they would remove high fructose corn syrup form their buns.
People want to eat fresh ingredients, and Mike Andres is right, if they sell their food fast enough, then why can they not have fresh ingredients. With casual food chains on the rise, fast food chains have to ditch the prepackaged food and frozen food if they want to keep up with a cliental that has seen the opportunity to eat better, but still eat fast.
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