Fast Food in the Netherlands

PROSPECTS

Biggest wave of major international brands enters in two decades

Fast food sales registered another year of positive growth in 2017, benefiting from the macroeconomic improvement and higher consumer confidence and spending on foodservice since 2014. With Dutch consumers enjoying greater disposable incomes and the number of foreign tourists visiting the country still rising, fast food sales received a boost from more visitors.

The Netherlands remains popular anchor market for continental Europe

To some extent, the recent push by large major US fast food chains into the Netherlands was simply part of a more general strategy of international expansion, as a reaction to an increasingly saturated and competitive home market. This makes sense considering that many in fast food terms many European countries, including the Netherlands, are much less consolidated and large US companies can leverage their financial and operational clout against much smaller local competitors.

There are several routes open to success

Several strategies are open to international fast food chains to make a success of their presence in the Netherlands. Some brands are restricted upon entry to the Greater Amsterdam region, which boasted reliable growth in international tourist visits in recent years as well as a relatively large number of short-term expats that may be attracted by brand familiarity.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

McDonald’s remains leading brand, offering home delivery

Exploitatie McDonald’s Nederland BV remained the undisputed leading player in fast food. The company continues to benefit from first mover advantage, as it was the first major US chain to enter the Netherlands in the 1970s.

Ice cream and other fast food chains face declines

While fast food saw gains in 2016, growth was unevenly spread as independents outperformed chained counterparts. The weaker performance of fast food chains in 2017 was predominantly attributable to declines in ice cream and other fast food.

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