There have been rumors of McDonald’s entering Cambodia. It was reported as early as 2015, but McDonald’s has never been seen. Why is there no McDonald’s in Cambodia?
It has been difficult to conclude why McDonald’s did not enter Cambodia. On January 27 this year, according to Cambodian media reports, a famous Cambodian businessman negotiated to buy the distribution rights of McDonald’s in Cambodia, and McDonald’s may be available in Cambodia shortly.
Until now, there are many well-known fast food chains in Cambodia including KFC, Burger King, and Pizza Hut, but there is no McDonald’s. And, others like Swenson’s Ice Cream, Circle K, Krispy Kreme, Domino’s Pizza, Dairy Queen, Chem-Dry, Auntie Anne’s, Carl’s Junior, Cold Stone Creamery, Starbucks Coffee, Harley-Davidson, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, and Hard Many well-known chain brands such as Rock Cafe have also joined the Cambodian market, making the fast food industry in Cambodia flourish and competition is fierce.
Recently, it was reported that McDonald’s fast food restaurants will be stationed in Cambodia shortly. A businessman is said to have successfully negotiated and fulfilled all the requirements of the American fast food giant to qualify for the regional Master Franchisee (Master Franchisee) entry into the Cambodian market. McDonald’s fast food restaurant is expected to debut in Cambodia in 2023.
In the era of McDonald’s sweeping the world, Cambodia may be one of the few countries in the world without McDonald’s. McDonald’s has “landed” in Iceland or Bolivia before, but quickly fled, but McDonald’s has never set foot in Cambodia.
Earlier, according to Nanbo.com, The Pizza Company was the first regional brand to enter Cambodia. In 2014, Lotteria, Pepper Lunch, Yoshinoya and Bonchon successively entered the Cambodian fast food market. Compared with Western-style fast food, Asian fast-food brands are based on the concept of Western-style fast food, but are good at catering to eastern tastes, and are very popular in Cambodia.
In 2015, Nanbo.com published the article “Intensive Competition in the Fast Food Market in Cambodia”, which analyzed the reasons why McDonald’s failed to enter Cambodia of the food culture of Cambodians:
“According to Nanbo.com, buying the right to operate an American fast food brand costs $5.8 million, which is much more expensive than acquiring the franchise of a popular Asian restaurant, and Cambodians eat more rice and soup than soup. With bread and cheese dipped in jam, Asian fast food is more culturally friendly. Asian brands are more popular with Cambodians than Western diets.”
Nanbo.com pointed out that the increasing number of high-end chain restaurants in Cambodia’s Asian fast-food brands, and the ever-changing food tastes cater to local people, indirectly raise the barriers for American fast-food giants such as McDonald’s to enter the Cambodian market.
According to the “Khmer Times” report, the emergence of the epidemic and the emergence of the takeaway industry have intensified the fierce competition in the catering industry. With the help of takeaway services such as Nham24, EGETS, Food Panda, and WOW NOW, more and more restaurants are developing towards diversification with the help of takeaway. More and more people prefer healthy restaurants with diversified meal choices, and more and more people abandon the “cheaply processed” physical fast food. This also means that the diversification of the catering industry is also a major barrier for fast food chains to settle in.
However, with social and economic development, Cambodia’s catering industry has also diversified, with Chinese and Western restaurants all over the streets. The unique food culture of the locals is no longer the main factor limiting the entry of fast food. The local market is more tolerant of Western-style fast food, and even local fast food brands have emerged.
When KFC, the “big brother” of the global fast-food chain, entered Cambodia in the early days, it suffered heavy losses in a row, with a loss of more than US$500,000 in the first half of 2012 alone. But even so, KFC still has not retreated to the Cambodian market.
Today, KFC can still be found in Cambodia, and it has even opened nearly 10 chain stores in Cambodia. In addition, in August 2021, Pizza Hut officially entered Cambodia.
Franchise partner United Food Group (UFG) plans to open 30 stores within two to three years. UFG is a local company and the parent company of Cambodia’s popular Park Café restaurant, which currently has 20 branches in Cambodia. Are you looking forward to the news that McDonald’s will enter Cambodia soon?
