Fast Food Increasingly Popular in Cambodia

By Soy Sophea

Each week thousands of people enjoy the fast food experience, according to managers in the trade. On any given weekday, up to 500 busy customers are attracted by the taste and convenience of fast food. On weekends, this figure rises to over 1,000 customers, according to Khieu Channa, marketing manager for a local fast food franchise.

Sitting with her friend at a fast food shop near the Independent Monument, Eai Moralene savors the taste of roasted chicken. Blissfully unaware of her surroundings, the 22-year-old can look back on nearly half a lifetime of sharing fast food with friends and family.

Almost every weekend, Eai Maralene can be found enjoying herself and forgetting about the tensions of the past week at a fast food outlet. She says she is curious to discover all the different western flavors available at the big brand name shops which have sprung up over recent months and years in Phnom Penh. Ms Maralene is indeed a fast food fanatic.

She said, “I always enjoy trying out the latest shops as soon as they open. I can spend at least $10 per week on fast food.”

Maralene, an employee with a private company earns less than $200 per month and she realizes that compared to workaday Khmer food – the “staff of life” - fast food does not provide such good value for money; she is however prepared to pay a little extra for the experience as well as the sustenance. She said, “The food tastes great and I like the self service aspect a lot.”

It is a habit she shares with the rest of her family, who like nothing better than spending a lazy weekend enjoying the taste and the relaxing experience.

Cheng Samnang, Moralene’s friend, is another fast food connoisseur. The 25-year-old drew the distinction between a well balanced daily diet with all the major food groups covered and the idea of fast food as a tasty snack or treat.

Samnang said, “I bring my family here for entertainment as much as anything else. These shops are attractively decorated, the service is reasonable and the prices are not crippling.”

Marketing Manager Khieu Channa said each one of his customers spends on average US $2.5 dollars per sitting. His company is going from strength to strength—not surprising given the range of tasty treats on offer, including roasted chicken, salad, hamburgers, pizza, soft drinks and tea and coffee.

Channa, who has two years marketing management to call on, added that the fast food trend is accepted as compatible with the direction of Cambodian cultural development. To illustrate the point, his company alone has three barbeque restaurants, four pizza parlors and eight tea and coffee shops.

Channa is proud of his company, a local enterprise established in 2002, and its ability to compete with internationally-recognized brands.

“We have increased the number of shops since 2002 and we will open a new outlet in downtown Siem Reap this year,” Channa said. “It will have the same commitment to serve customers in the international manner as all our other outlets; and as the number of satisfied customers continues to increase, our company has set its sights on Sihanoukville and Battambang province.”

However he said that to make a success of a new fast food operation would require at least US $200,000. Furthermore, the market will inevitably reach the point of saturation, especially with the number of heavyweight brands such as Lucky Burger and KFC willing to make a go of the Cambodian market.

A staff member of a pizza company in Phnom Penh noted the pleasure the nation takes in trying out new flavors in novel dining environments. With little cultural experience of nutrition shaped and tasting like a pizza or a hotdog, Cambodians are naturally curious to find out what all the fuss is about.

26-year-old Sorn Vicheth, a resident of Phnom Penh, also spoke of his liking for western style fast food shops. He appreciated the fact that though some citizens may not be able to afford to eat as much fast food as they would like, the price was not so extortionate as to rule it out entirely. “It tastes great and the price makes it a reasonable way to give myself a treat for a job well done.”

Vicheth said that he started to eat and enjoy pizzas and hamburgers back in 2000. He recalled High School days when money was not inexhaustible and the possession of a girlfriend was a matter of supreme importance and joy. These sentiments were all the more memorable as these days marked his first experience with fast food.