Walking down this one block, you have Hardee's, KFC,
McDonald's, Johnny Rockets, Subway, the list goes on,
and that's pretty common today in Kuwait
and in many countries throughout the Middle East.
Kuwaitis are obsessed with American fast food.
What do you like to order at McDonald's?
- You see McDonald's as, not as much as mosques,
but you see it quite a lot, like, there's fast food everywhere here!
- What brought you here to Burger King today?
- She did. [laughs]
- This is Gulf Road here, it has some of the most beautiful beachfront properties
But instead of seeing big fancy hotels private homes you see McDonald's Burger King KFC and Pizza
Can I go with the the Big Mac and chicken McNuggets?
Thank you
Demand for delivery is so high chains like dominos have designated call centers to keep up with the nonstop orders
This is a chuan the general manager of Domino's restaurants in Kuwait
But 10 or 15 percent of our customer order at least Four times a week
people are still ordering when it's 120 degrees outside?
Yes nobody can resist
Pizza they love it. They love it,
and it's not just the customers that love it
Good no wonder you guys are a hit
How does it look?
Does it look bad? Yeah? I'm sure okay
They're probably 20 people in this kitchen right now you have people taking out the dough putting the sauce on top beans some people throw
it in the oven and it will be my turn to take a pizza
Rerun
Let's go
Okay, okay
Have you ever delivered to the same person twice in one day?
yes it sometimes it happened three times
This is your cheese feast first delivery complete
Mercedes out in front pretty good. You got a range of customers
two large pizza
One italiano no Italian sausage and one super cheese
, thank you sir
As consumers in the US become more health-conscious fast-food sales are plateauing, but in Kuwait. They're only going up
At the American University of Kuwait we spoke with the chairman of the department of marketing dr. Moses and magnet
Why did American fast food originally come to Kuwait ?
the beginning of fast food I would say it's part of the Americanization the culture here anything American is popular here
Well the first American franchise is like KFC and Hardee's opened in Kuwait in the 70s and 80s
The fast food industry here really only exploded after the Gulf War with locations popping up all over Kuwait in the 90s and 2000's
Many families look at it as a fun way to spend
The weekend or evening to take the kids and go to some place which is inexpensive
American-style so it is popular for outings.
Why is it so easy for
Why is it so easy for American companies to open franchise here
? the cost of doing business here is not as expensive as in the u.s.. Tax wise and
Otherwise the brain labor from overseas cheap labor so the cost of operation is not expensive
But the return is very good. They are making very good profit, and it's gonna continue like that for a while
Shopping malls are the biggest attraction in Kuwait City and the food courts here are pretty much always packed
We went to the biggest one in the city The Avenues Mall to join Samara and her family for dinner
Where'd you accommodate?
have you had health concerns that you think are a result of this?
is this your last big mac?
Samira's not alone nearly 40% of Kuwait's adult population is obese
leading to a sharp rise in reduction surgeries in recent years
Bariatric surgeon dr. Muhammed Jamal says fast food along with other factors unique to Kuwait have created a perfect storm for obesity
It changed the culture of our eating habits
Fast food became a habit associated with going out
And this is something that is very particular to the Gulf countries that we don't have any other form of entertainment
Part of that has to do with Kuwait being a dry country?
probably
so people aren't going to night clubs or bars
They go to fast food restaurants instead?
It is the place to be seen, the restaurant...
I think heat is also is also a major part of why we are obese
It's the hottest place on earth and that prevents a lot of people from exercising and probably food becomes their
comfort
Is this the largest public health crisis facing Kuwait?
definitely, obstructive sleep apnea is rising , hypertension diabetes
Different kinds of cancer and heart disease. They're all rising because of
Obesity you would think that in the u.s.. You guys have a major problem with food. We do. Have a much worse problem
I don't think the people of Kuwait realize that
Kuwait is now one of the most obese nations on earth it. Has roughly double the percentage of diabetic adults than the u.s.
Samira's own 15 year old niece was diagnosed as pre-diabetic and is now on the verge of major health issues
She joined us as we visited the Yarmouk diabetes clinic to speak with dr.
Gotta ibrahim president of the kuwait society for diabetic foot and glue management
as Latifah awaited her test results dr. Guerra showed us the various side effects of diabetes
Lateefa's test results came back negative, but as Dr. Gotta warned. She's still dangerously close to becoming diabetic
How do you feel about hearing all this?
Whether fast food companies bear any responsibility here is up for debate
There's some see parallels between fast food and another major American industry
Tobacco is a killer for sure now fast food
unfortunately the health implication
Many people are not aware of it and even if they are aware they don't take it serious
There is no warning the cigarettes you have it's written this cigarettes will kill you
Do we have that and fast food?
you don't.
Do they published nutritional datas like at the US?
I mean people at least when they make a decision they know what they are getting into and they are doing that to avoid lawsuits
Because if you do it when you know it's your fault
These companies aren't just operating in Kuwait they span the Middle East and it doesn't stop there
American fast food brands populate more than a hundred countries around the world
occupying six continents
the chicken fillet is what I like that's probably what I'll get
i am going to get that too!
can i have big chicken fillet please?
you'll get is as a combo?
Yeah, we should get combo
Andy Puzder was the CEO of one of these parent companies cke restaurants
Which owns Hardee's and Carl's jr.
thank you very much
We reached out to CEOs at all of the main fast-food chains in the US
You're the only one that agreed and all of them asked whether we were gonna touch on the health of fast food
Why do you think people are so concerned about that?
Well, I you know we have healthy products so if you tell me you want to talk about healthy products
I'm actually anxious to talk to you. We have low-fat products. We have low-carb products
We have gluten sensitive products, I can't say we sell a lot of them, but we have them
I think what a lot of people wonder is for somebody who eats three meals a day at a fast-food restaurant
for years on end develops
Obesity diabetes has to have bariatric surgery
Who's to blame who's responsible is that the individual? is that the government for not having regulations in places ? or the company for not educating
first one, It shouldn't be the government. You know I mean how much do we want the government to tell us what to do?
It's a matter of personal responsibility you have to take responsibility for your life. I always tell people I'm not the food police
I don't tell people what they're supposed to eat or what they have to eat
I'm here to serve people what they want to eat. That's the business
I'm in
And right now business is good in fact the global fast food industry is projected to be worth over six hundred billion dollars by 2019
We opened our first restaurant the Middle East in 1980 in Kuwait
It was our first international restaurant over the past three years
We have opened more restaurants outside the United States than inside
So what are some of the untapped regions right now in the world?
well
I'd really like to see is be more in Africa
the latest entrant into the Nairobi
restaurant and fast food scene is Hadees known for its famous American chocolate burger
We're talking to people in Tunisia. We've been trying to open in Nigeria love to be in South Africa
It is amazing how much people love America despite what you hear to the contrary
and this is the land of opportunity this place where your future is always open
And there's no government oppression or repression so I think it's an idea that really appeals to people all over the world
Businesses are like you know they're like anything else when you stop growing you start dying, and we don't want to start dying
You