solution

solution.

Despite the apparent success of the McDonald’s ethical turnaround in North America and Europe, many of the same threats to its reputation have returned to haunt the company in Asia. With increasing prosperity in emerging economies such as India and China, the demand for eating out and for a whole range of convenience foods has expanded substantially since the turn of the century. This has come at a time when Western markets for traditional fast food have become saturated with little opportunity for significant growth. Capitalizing on growth in Asia, McDonald’s has targeted major store expansion in the region, with the firm’s China business expanding faster than any other market in the early 2010s. But as eating habits have changed, so too have health considerations. Rates of obesity in China and India have rocketed since the turn of the century. Although only a few decades ago famine was a more common threat, the region is said now to be facing an oncoming obesity epidemic. Other diet and exercise-related problems such as diabetes and heart disease are also on the rise. To date, activists and regulators have not challenged fast-food companies such as McDonald’s to the same extent that they were attacked in Europe and North America, but growing pressure is clearly evident. In China, researchers have shown that the discourse around McDonald’s has increasingly shifted from one focused on it being a cheap, modern place for the young, to also incorporating concerns about ‘junk food’, health and environmental considerations, food safety, and associations with Western imperialism. Ethical Corporation magazine revealed that, although widespread in Europe, nutritional information was absent on McDonald’s websites for the Philippines, Hong Kong, and China. Moreover, practices now halted in North America and Europe appeared to be much in use in Asia—such as dedicated online kids’ zones where the company has been accused of targeting young children with unhealthy food. The company this time has been less slow to respond to its critics—a healthy option corn soup has emerged on the menu in China, vegetarian burgers feature in India, and the games, competitions, and special offers featured on the company’s Asian kids’ zones have largely been scaled back. But calories are not yet typically posted on menu boards in Asia as they are in the UK or the US, and transparency clearly lags behind developments in Canada and Australia. In general, the overall emphasis on healthy eating, exercise, and a balanced lifestyle has yet to be actively promoted in Asia to anything like the same extent as in North America and Europe, even if countries such as Malaysia and Singapore now feature such programmes. However, signs that the company is moving towards a more globally integrated approach to health and nutrition emerged in 2013 when the company announced that it would start offering healthy options as part of its ‘value meals’ in all of its 20 major global markets by 2020. The company simultaneously announced plans to promote and market only water, milk and juice as the beverages in its children’s Happy Meals.

Save your time - order a paper!

Get your paper written from scratch within the tight deadline. Our service is a reliable solution to all your troubles. Place an order on any task and we will take care of it. You won’t have to worry about the quality and deadlines

Order Paper Now

solution

 
"Looking for a Similar Assignment? Get Expert Help at an Amazing Discount!"