Intl fast food chains more resilient than Chinese peers amid epidemic

International fast food chains have shown more resilience and agility than China’s local players to risks brought on by the coronavirus outbreak through their swift response mechanism, more organized management and extensive online presence.

Almost 3,000 restaurants of McDonald’s China continued operations since the outbreak, in stark contrast to some highprofile local catering chain brands like Xibei Youmiancun that forecast in February a cash crunch in three months.

Besides setting up a special anti-epidemic team to guarantee the health and safety of its workers, delivery people as well as customers, McDonald’s launched its “contact-free” pick-up across the country.

It works by letting customers order through an app or self-service machines, and then get their food at the pick-up window.

KFC and Starbucks took the same measures. Yum China Holdings started contact-free deliveries on January 30 at its KFC and Pizza Hut locations, the company said.

Starbucks told the Global Times that 90 percent of the company’s 4,300 stores in China were open again by Thursday, after the epidemic forced the coffee chain to temporarily shut down more than half of its stores.

The company said it suggests customers order coffee through its app and the beverage will be placed on tables near the entrance.

Liu Renjun, a manager of Hunan Xiangjun Catering Co, told the Global Times on Friday that these brands’ online expansion helped their businesses at a time some provinces asked restaurants to welcome patrons.

Compared to KFC’s flagship store on Alibaba’s Tmall online marketplace, where the brand has nearly 4 million fans, Liu has just started its food takeout business.

“The takeout business has allowed our revenue to recover by 20 percent of the pre-virus level,” he said, noting that he will put more focus on online and takeout to minimize risks after the epidemic ends.