Adapting American Fast Food Brands for Indian Markets

I selected an international business article from The Wall Street Journal titled “McDonald’s, Pizza Hut Cook Up New Plans for India” for my article summary assignment. This article is relevant to our course because it covers American fast food companies expanding in India. In order to be successful in foreign markets, it requires adjusting to the foreign country’s culture and customs in order to be successful in a global market. It also requires innovation and adaption to serve the local people in foreign countries, and they need strategies and a vision to address current trends and local competition.

The article discusses how the international fast food chains once blazed the trail in India when they arrived about “15 years ago” (Rana). During this time, the big global brands such as Domino’s Pizza, McDonald’s, and Yum Brands that includes Pizza Hut and KFC built too many stores due to the anticipation of a larger growth. Now, the market growth has slowed for these original global brands in India. Growth is sluggish because

McDonald’s share in India’s fast food market slid from 38% in 2009 to 26% in 2014, and Pizza Hut’s share in the pizza chain market slumped from 31% to 18%” (Rana). In order to address this trend, the original chains are reinventing and restructuring to revive growth in India’s fast food market. They are doing this by overhauling menu items to address the culture and tastes of the people of India, and they are getting facelifts to compete with the new homegrown restaurants. Domino’s and Pizza Hut are both making changes by offering discounts, value items, and various tricks to improve their sales. By reinventing and making changes to fit India’s culture, the original trailblazers, McDonald’s, Domino’s, and Pizza Hut, “are hoping they can get back on track to fast expansion”