Background

Globalization is the most important process for the success of each and every company on the national as well as international level. The concept of globalization is the worldwide scale of growth. It is basically an ongoing process in which the cultures, economies, and societies are being integrated. Globalization has both positive as well as negative impact on the company (Kaplinsky, & Raphael, 2005). The fast food industry is also impact by the process of globalization. This report focuses on the importance of the globalization in the business. Along with this, the report also identifies the globalization is affected by the current issues in the company. For the discussion, the famous fast food company Café de Coral in Hong Kong has taken. The company Café de Coral has started its operations in 1968. The vision of the company is to have all the stakeholders together by ‘all happy together’ in the business. The company is the world’s largest public listed company and leading in the product innovation and marketing excellence with the uncompromised standard of quality, unconditional service to the customers and undivided commitment to excellence (CASH, 2000).

Globalization can be described as the processes by which various people, their money, cultures, goods and much information can be transferred between the countries having few and no barriers. Basically, globalization is the process by which whole world is becoming interconnected by the increased trade and cultural exchange. In the aspect of food culture, the food of Hong Kong is one of the best examples of globalization having the combination of western and Asian food. Globalization has changed the country especially in terms of food (Changkyu, 2010).

Globalization is the cause of growth of western fast food economy in all over the world especially in China. Due to the globalization, the number of fast food industry has increased in the China over the last twenty years. In the last decades, there was not existence of fast food industry in China. There were few choices available in the traditional Chinese restaurants such as egg and tea merchants, pulled noodles and small fast vendors in the five star hotels. Globalization has brought a change in the eating habits in the china as the people in the country are now adopting the improved fast food industry to more modernized economy. Along with this, globalization has changed the advertisement pattern in many countries. The advertisements of the fast food are now focused on the lifestyle of middle class in the society, for workers and modern people (Caroline & Diana, 2004).

Globalization has strong impact on the restaurants of Hong Kong. It has the big impact on the Chinese restaurants which are very popular in Hong Kong. The growth of fast food restaurants indicates that there is the great change in the food sector due to globalization. There is the important role of globalization behind the appearance and increase of fast food restaurants and non Chinese restaurants in the country. Along with this, there are local fast food restaurants like Café de Coral but it is appeared because the globalization has created this idea in Hong Kong. There are many positive impacts on the world i.e. reality that large scale companies are able to trade their products in all over the word (Parker, 2005). Along with this, people are also able to connect to any part of the world due to the faster communication as oppose to paper mail. So, the fast food industry is also affected by the globalization. The fast food industry in Hong Kong is changing many aspects including shifting eating habits. Globalization is significantly affecting the people in Hong Kong as the fast food companies are adopting aggressive marketing campaign for the target market to meet their needs and wants. The fast food companies are eager to learn the new and advanced western technologies such as media and internet to grasp many new opportunities. Along with this, fast food industries use the globalization of western lifestyle by the media for gaining advantage (Suárez-Orozco & Qin-Hilliard, 2004).

Importance of globalization in food sector

In case of Café de Coral, globalization is important for the company to expand the business in all over the country. Globalization is essential for the company in order to reach on the next level of growth and to find the most appropriate and sustainable growth opportunities away from the Hong Kong. The company is dominating the market of Hong Kong and continuously improving its brand image by the innovations in the food sector. Now, there is the need in Café de Coral to expand its business in many other countries and it can be possible by the globalization (Bruce, 2011).

Practices 

Café de Coral has started its operations from the country Hong Kong and now it has become the global chain by expanding the business in Poland, Canada, and in United States.  The company has adopted effective practices and strategies to expand its business in the various countries. Now, the US market has taken for the discussion of Café de Coral’s expansion. The company has strategy to gain the competitive advantage in terms of providing unique products and services in the market. The practices of Café de Coral are as follows:

Brand Development

In the new market, Café de Coral is adopting efficient advertisements strategy in order to strengthen its brand image in the international market. The advertisements can basically be used in building the relationship between the brand of the company and the customers. The company is growing with 330 outlets in Asia pacific region and over service restaurants in the North America. Further, the company has expanded its business including fast food, specialty restaurants, institutional catering, distribution, food manufacturing and many other services. Further, company is focused to sustain customer loyalty by improving the quality of products in the international market (Venturini & Senauer, 2005).

But it is not easy for the company to expand the business in the international market. There are many issues which have to face by the company in the global market. Café de Coral also faced some issues in the global expansion. Some current issues are as follows:

Corporate Social Responsibility

There are some social and environmental issues which were faced by Café de Coral. Since the issues were directly related to the company so it is essential for the company to focus on the corporate social responsibility. The company sometimes faces many issues in terms of obesity and health. For this manner, the company has to provide best quality of products and services to overcome with the issues of CSR. Café de Coral can use the green strategy to attract the customers as the customers are more conscious about their health. So, the company can adopt the strategy of providing health and green food so that trust can be build up for the company.

Political and Social Pressure

There are some political issues which have to face by the Café de Coral as the company is established in Hong Kong and it is expanding in US market. The culture and the political stability of US market are different from the Hong Kong. So company has deal with the different culture and the various perceptions of the customers. To attract the customer in the global market, the company has to use very effective promotional strategy with the good taste of food (Salisbury, 2015).

Approach and methodology

Market Environment

The US market is quite different from the Hong Kong market. The taste and preferences of the customers are different in the US market. Sometimes, Café de Coral has faced the issues regarding their culture and food choices. Although the food market is already established in US but there are many strong competitors such as McDonalds, KFC which are giving tough competition to the Café de Coral (Watson & James, 2000). So, in such case, it is important for the Café de Coral to adopt innovative strategy to deal with the strong competitors. Along with this, company can also adopt some promotional strategies such as coupons, and discounts to attract the customers.

In the methodology, the secondary research has used to analyze the globalization practices of Café de Coral. For the research, there are some questions which are formulated to analyze the company’s practices. To get the answers, some books and articles are used so that the analysis can be done successfully. The main research questions for the analysis are as follows:

• How has Café de Coral affected the US market-

The company has provided the products based on the needs and requirements of the American customers. Café de Coral has signature products i.e. ‘Baked Pork Chop with Rice’, ‘Hot Pot of American beef’ and ‘Tea with Milk’. These all are the signature products of Café de Coral having huge success. Further, Café de Coral’s restaurants are also the usual place where the students gather together and can hang out.

• How is Café de Coral’s linkage with the US community-

Café de Coral is always committed in serving the community by the quality products. The company is involved with many social services, charity works and for the welfare of the children. Café de Coral has brand development strategy by communicating the brand effectively with the customers. The company is continuously growing with the effective marketing which aims to identify the opportunities for the expansion (Cafedecoral, 2017).

• How Café de Coral has affected the eating habits in US market-

The US market is dominated by many fast food restaurants including Chinese cuisine such as noodles, fish, rice, and pork. So, Café de Coral has got success in the overseas market. Café de Coral has adopted the concept of American culture and targeted the young customers with food to “trendy and up-to-date”. Most of the customers in US like international dishes as compared to local dishes. Café de Coral is popular among the customers.

As the result of above analysis, it is found that Café de Coral is doing well with its expansion. But due to some issues, the company is facing problems in the global market. Café de Coral is the great symbol of globalization because it affected the lifestyle of US culture and people, changing their habits by providing fast food services and introducing Hong Kong fast food culture in America. There are some recommendations for the Café de Coral to deal with the current issues of globalization and those are as follows:

• Café de Coral is the leading company in the fast food world. To promote the sales, the company should adopt the integrated marketing strategies in order to tap new market.
• Café de Coral should try to diversify its products and it should focus on providing more American products to the customers. It would be helpful for the company to gain competitive advantage in new market.
• Company should use new packaging style to attract the products i.e. it can use attractive packaging for the kids. Along with this, it can also use eco friendly packaging to deal with the CSR issues.
• The company can adopt the strategy of providing health and green food so that trust can be build up for the company.

By adopting these strategies, Café de Coral will be able to expand its business in many countries also. Further, by these recommendations, Café de Coral will be able to gain competitive advantage over the strong competitors in the US market.

Conclusion 

This report is focused on the importance of globalization in the organization. From the above discussion, it is observed that globalization is the process by which whole world is becoming interconnected by the increased trade and cultural exchange. Due to the globalization, the number of fast food industry has increased in the China over the last twenty years. Café de Coral has adopted the expansion in the US market and due to globalization; the company is able to expand its business in the new country. But there are some issues such as CSR issue, new market environment and social pressure. By adopting clean and green practices in the market, Café de Coral is able to deal with the issues and can get competitive advantage in the market. 

References 

Bruce, D., (2011), Winning in the Global Market: A Practical Guide to International Business Success: A Practical Guide to International Business Success, California: ABC-CLIO

Caroline & Diana, (2004), The effect of the internet on international trade: Journal of International Economics, 62(1), Pages 171–189

CASH, (2000), Café De Coral, accessed on 13^th July 2017 from https://www.cashon-line.com/cfsgweb/research/reports/listedreport/341_eng.pdf

Changkyu, C., (2010), The effect of the Internet on service trade: Economics Letters, 109(2), Pages 102–104

Kaplinsky, & Raphael (2005), Globalization, poverty and inequality: between a rock and a hard place, UK: Polity

Parker, B., (2005), Introduction to Globalization and Business: Relationships and Responsibilities, UK: SAGE

Salisbury, P., (2015), The Globalization of “Fast Food”, accessed on 13^th July 2017 from https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-globalization-of-fast-food-behind-the-brand-mcdonald-s/25309

Suárez-Orozco, M. M. & Qin-Hilliard, D., (2004), Globalization: Culture and Education in the New Millennium, University of California Press

Venturini, L., & Senauer, B., (2005), The Globalization of Food Systems: A Conceptual Framework and Empirical Patterns, accessed on 13^th July 2017 from https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/14304/1/tr05-01.pdf

Watson, & James, L., (2000), China’s big mac attack: Foreign Affairs, 79(3), pg. 120, 15
Cafedecoral, (2017), Management Discussion and Analysis, accessed on 13^th July 2017 from https://cafedecoral.com/eng/investor_relations/ceoreport/index.jsp