Fast Food, Cheap & Cheerful

Most people would admit that they choose to eat fast food because they are in a hurry, because it’s easily available, and also because it tastes nice. But another reason for the popularity of fast food is that it’s simply cheap and cheerful, and when budgets are limited, in economic times like the present, cheap and cheerful is often the way to go.

But have you ever asked yourself why the food that you buy from major fast food outlets is so cheap, and why they manage to sell it at such a low price?

Cheap and Cheerful Menus

The whole ethos behind fast food chains was to provide cheap food, which was recognisably the same in every outlet, at as little cost to both the retailer and the buyer as possible. So, in order to mass produce identikit food, you have to be able to source your ingredients cheaply, and arguably, that’s what most of the big name fast food outlets do.

The focus on 100% beef, Aberdeen Angus burgers and ‘posh’ burgers has been a direct result of the public’s growing perception of burgers as junk food, made from several different cows who’ve been treated poorly and badly farmed. Books like Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation opened the doors on the cruelty behind fast food in America, identifying issues with the welfare of the cattle, their slaughter, general lack of good hygiene and poor quality ingredients. Many people were shocked by what they read in the book, and so the big chains were forced to start cleaning up their act and bringing in measures to restore consumer confidence.

How do They Keep it So Cheap?

Modern fast food is guilty of being very highly processed and it’s also prepared as an industrial product, on a vast scale. It’s made with the same ingredients wherever you buy it, and often shipped around the world from processing plants where it’s cheaper to make.

It’s cooked using cheap industrial oils, usually deep fried or re-heated in a microwave. All these methods keep the overheads down and the preparation costs to a minimum, ensuring that the food can be sold at rock bottom prices, while the outlets still manage to make a hefty profit.

When it comes to the presentation, the food from fast food outlets tends to be basic, cheap and disposable. Most food comes in cheap paper wrappers, or occasionally plastic, to keep costs down.

Fast food restaurants all look very similar too. The facilities are basic – plastic chairs, plastic cutlery, no plates and no waiter service. The staff that are usually employed by big fast food corporations are not well known for being well paid, especially at the lower end of the responsibility scale, so they develop a reputation for being places where the service isn’t great – but the truth is, with food as well as service, you definitely get what you pay for!