Multinational Food Corporations & Eating Patterns in New Zealand Essay

Within several decades, the consumption of meals has been under drastic changes. People have developed different eating patterns concerning the food and drinks ratio, quality, frequency, timing, social setting, portion size, nutrition value, and costs. Human preferences have changed due to the current lifestyle, orients, goals, and tastes. According to various surveys and research, obesity levels have risen on a worldwide scale. Internationally known, popular, and attractive corporations have created brands of products and beverages that people recognize with closed eyes. Such businesses are called multinational, or transnational, food corporations as they managed to broadcast the specific taste and appearance of their product via unequally distant spots of the world. Every business that aims for successful performance, inserts various practices to attract the customer and make them remember, and recognize their brand. In this report, the connection between eating patterns in New Zealand and the performance of multinational corporations such as Coca-Cola and McDonald’s will be investigated and disclosed.

Eating patterns in New Zealand has deviated towards fast and unhealthy foods maintaining a great number of saturated fats, salt, and taste enhancers. According to the data, the food preferences of New Zealanders have changed towards more red meat consumption, white bread, soft and energy drinks, and products containing sugar and salt (Preston, 2014; Ministry of Health, 2011, 2012). Statista Research Department (2018) published the results of the survey showing 42.6 % of New Zealand’s adults ate in fast food restaurants from one to three times per week from 2017-2018. Moreover, the data provided by the Ministry of Health (2020), estimated that 30.9 of adults older than 15 were obese. Compared to the 1970s-1980s, only 15% of New Zealand’s population was overweight and the major unhealthy food habit was snacking (Birkbeck, 1981). Currently, obesity should be a major concern as it increases the risks for high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, and a variety of cardiac conditions. One of the fast-food enterprises’ practices that successfully integrated into human lives is quick food delivery and service. Within decades, life flow has fastened, and it demands individuals to be more efficient, productive, and energetic. Therefore, consumers tend to economize time on food consumption and prefer eating on the way, spending less time on cooking at home. Salt and sugar proportions in fast food products are higher than usual which makes the receptors react to especially delicious food. Hitting comfort, speed of life, and strong and recognizable taste, multinational corporations of fast foods become more popular, accessible, and develop an addiction.

The marketing practices of transnational corporations such as McDonald’s and Coca-Cola are aggressive, using persuasive techniques, and implicit messages in advertising. Coca-Cola was claimed to be one of the world’s most chosen consumer brands in 2018 (Chu, 2020). The company has a very strong brand name existing for decades that is easily distinguished by customers (Mevada, 2020). The company also used famous singers, actors, and slogans to broadcast the name of the brand and attract more people to the product (Gershon, 2020). One of the smartest actions was incorporating the specialties of the Chinese culture into Coca-Cola’s advertisements at the end of the XX century (Chu, 2020). This action simplified the communication with Chinese people and disposed them of the product. To distinguish itself from the competitors, the brand inserted various innovations on the market such as changing bottle format so it can be recognizable even in the darkness (Pendergrast & Crawford, 2020).

According to the healthy trends in the XXI century, the company developed low-calory soda Diet Coke and later Coke Zero Sugar (Chu, 2020). McDonald’s also uses various techniques in advertisement such as playing on nostalgia in the advertisement of 1955 Burger, and the Bandwagon technique in the Proud Papa advertisement (Ruff, 2020; Strategic Direction, 2002). The implicit message in the Big Mac advertisement involving Michael Jordan had the direct aim to attract humans but also an indirect purpose meaning their products motivate sports players and give them extra energy for the workout (Kincheloe, 2002). Thus, multinational corporations are using various techniques, persuasive language, and images popularizing sport, memories from the past, family institutions, and many other basic topics that are associated with good principles. The dear attitude towards these themes and their bandage to the fast-food advertisement relates the brain reactions to these brands as to something cozy, warm, close, and persuasive.

All the described abode drastic changes in food consumption behavior have led to the worsening of the general health rates in New Zealand. Humans slowly but steadily lose cooking abilities as they buy takeaways and eat out more. Humans suffer from nutritional disorders, obesity, low mobility, heart conditions, and addictions. The amounts of food portions also have tendencies to increase which leads to a bigger number of purchases and, again, overweight. However, the Ministry of Health in New Zealand (2020) gives useful advice on developing healthy food preferences and habits. According to nutrition guidelines, it is recommended to eat unsaturated fats instead of saturated fats, consume more fiber, eat smaller portions, and be active daily (Ministry of Health, 2021). It is essential to take control of our life because we are what we eat. Food preferences have a current tendency to worsen nowadays; however, they can always be changed for the better.

References

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