Consuming Food and Constructing Identities - Case Study Example

Saudi Arabia Food and Cuisines Name: Date: Affiliation: Saudi Arabia Food and Cuisines Introduction National dish is an accepted variety of food in a particular country and it is considered natural for several reasons. Some of the reasons that make a dish be accepted national may be that it is a staple food or it has exotic ingredient or it is served to mark national cultural. Staple foods are the main foods in a given country and they have a certain mark of identity. The identity makes s the food national to a particular country. The paper will focus on Arabic food and CUSINES since they are internationally accepted and are also served in all parts of the world where Arabs live (Vallianatos,& Raine, 2008). The Arabic food cuisines are not only fed by the Arabs, but also other people fr5om different culture find themselves feeding on the foods since they are aromatic, tasty and nutritious in the long run. Such features of the Arabic cuisines make them acceptable in all parts of the world and from people of all walks of life. The foods are prepared in such a way that even the pauper in the street can afford a bite hence becoming important for this study. The aroma and taste of the Arabic cuisines makes one feel accepted even before it is served. However, when one is away from the Arabic environment it is not possible to have such foods since the non Arabic people are not conversant with recipes and also they may not the sweetness and happiness behind Arabic cuisines (Vallianatos,& Raine, 2008). Therefore, it is paramount to set up a hotel or restaurant where the Arabic brothers may be gathering to ensure they get the best Arabic cuisine even if they are away from home. Some of the Arabic food and cuisines include the Tahni, Falatel, Tabouleh, Pita Bread, Baklawa, Baba Ghannoui, Turkish coffee, Taheeni, and Teen among other delicacies. These delicacies will only be found in Arab setting or environment where Arabs are dominating. For one to cook the above delicacies he or she must be conversant with the food recipes otherwise horrible meals will be offered. Considering the above, it is paramount to note that such hotels and restaurants should be established in an aim to alleviate the Arabic menu of the Arabs living in Diaspora (Zubaida, & Tapper, 2000). There is a different group of companies and restaurant that specialize in Arabic food in US and they have contributed to the increased amount of Arabic food on the streets of New York. Some of these restaurants include Cedar Sky that offers traditional Middle Eastern food and gifts which are specifically from Lebanon. The restaurant is located in Brooklyn Newyork.Kalamala.com is also an online site which helps the company sell middle eastern products both in retail and wholesale engagement. In the stores, one is likely to find some of the most Arabic foods and spices which are imported. The store is quite lucrative for the clients because of their fair price and efficiency in the long run (Zubaida, & Tapper, 2000). The taste of Turkey is also another company that deals with Middle East foods and their services are reasonable. These companies specialize in importation and provision of the same products and, therefore, it's paramount for the company to ensure that they provide quality and better services in an attempt to ensure that customers are satisfied and at the same time, they are maintained and will come again. Target market and positioning The Arabs who are minority in USA feed the Arabic diet and cuisines. They are the minority in the sense that they have migrated for work, education, or even seeking asylum. Therefore, the population of the Arabs is minimal; therefore, it is important to position the restaurant in the area where sufficient customers will visit the restaurant. Through research should be done to deter mine the best place to locate the hotel taking into account that the Arabs are minorities in USA. The target group should be mostly the students who have migrated to study in the United States. The students are good target group since they are influential and if one student happens to take a lamb meat in the restaurant, he or she will gather all the other students and soon enough the restaurant will be filled by students. Therefore, student serves to be a good target group for the business. Apart from the heavy influence associated with students, they are frequent feeders and that means frequent visits to the restaurant. It is possible for the students to take three meals in the hotel since the rare cook. They may take breakfast, lunch and s supper at the restaurant and this makes them viable target group for the Arabic restaurant (Hume, 2006). The second group is the workers who work within the vicinity of the restaurant. Mostly, those individuals who live within the vicinity of the hotel are likely to engage the hotel and ask for foodstuffs since its ready and Arabic prepared. They will opt to feed o n the Arabic food even if it means that they will order online. Most people who work in banks and other busy organizations are likely to order food online and that have proved to very successful in the long run. Such clients will be many upon realizing that the hotel exists. Free delivery will be offered upon order through the system many people will opt to go for the Arabic restaurant. The other target group is the immigrants who stay in the America as asylum seekers. These individuals will visit the Restaurant now and then, therefore, contributing to increasing the customer based in the long run (Hume, 2006,). The restaurant is likely to be located in Florida owing the fact that it is highly populated and at the same time it has the high number of Arabs compared to other parts of America. More also there are many colleges that might contribute to customer of the students. Florida strategically positioned makes it ideal for the restaurant and it will perform exemplarily in the long run. A high number of the students in the area will increase the number of customers. However, the students do not have income and, therefore, cheap but delicious cuisines will offer upon verification that the individual is a student. This action will help in ensuring that the students are maintained and still contribute to the growth of the restaurant. In as much as the students may not have much money to buy the expensive foods, their number ensures that the restaurant makes the profit by the end of the day. Most of the people who are like to be customers are men since they are the mostly to be outdoors. Men who are working in the areas will prefer to go the restaurant for food compared to women. Women will prefer to buy ‘takeaway’ food and eat in the offices. However, at times they may restrain to eat in the public at all. Therefore, men appear to be the majority customers though women may peep in here and there (Koku, 2005). Marketing mix For a product to be accepted in the market, it must have desirable features that will make it desirable and acceptable to the customers. In the food industry, the food has to be acceptable if it meets the standards of health in terms of recipe and quality. Moreover, the Arabic foods and cuisines are more than that since they are sweet and delicious for everybody even non Arabs. The different types offered in the restaurant forms a conglomerate of a balanced diet and one is assured that upon feeding on them cases of malnutrition and obesity are reduced completely. The balanced nature of the foods in every plate makes it possible to prevent diseases that are related to health. In such cases, the food becomes highly acceptable amongst the customers (Koku, 2005). Some foods from the Arabic diet have medicinal value and, therefore, it is paramount for them to be fed by all people. For example, Foul meddamas is a composition of fava beans, olive oil, sparsely and garlic and upon eating the diet, it is possible to prevent cases of cancer and overweight. Continuous consumption of these foods will naturally prevent many diseases that are affiliated to feeding habits. The diet is much better than the existing products which are sold in the American shops due to their nutritional and medicinal value. If the entire population can understand the strength and ability of the Arabic diet, then they would switch to feeding on them. For instance, if one would compare a hamburger or pizza with Arabic ghanoush, it is evident that the ghanoush will have more nutritional and medicinal value compared to the pizza. The pizza contains lots of junk that will only contribute to obesity while ghanoush has nutrients that are vital and at the same it contain a medicinal value. If the food holds both nutritional and medicinal value, it's worth for it to be eaten taking into account that hospitalization will turn out as a myth. The Arabic foods are also pocket friendly compared to the American foods such as pizzas and burgers. They have low nutritional content and they eventually culminate in health complications (Koku, 2005). The product is acceptable and valuable in the international market. Most people do not understand the sweetness behind eating Arabic food and educating them will improve the international outlook of the food. Informing the clients through inscribing the nutrients and benefits associated will not only develop more sales, but also many people will take the food positively and finally accepting it completely. Acceptance of the product in the international market means increased sales and the eventual establishment of the restaurant and any other packaging services that offered. Therefore, initiating few changes to the food will make it acceptable in the international outlook (Zubaida, & Tapper, 2000). The product may be altered here and there to ensure they attract as many customers as possible. In as much the target clients are Arabs, Americans and other immigrants can be interested in eating. Therefore, it would be very important for the foods to localized and prepared in a way that it is similar to the food eaten in America. This is done through altering the recipe slightly and adopting some local names which will eventually encourage the local people to eat. Moreover, inventing a new product is also part of the process of marketing the product. Upon evaluating the culture of the people, one may come up with a product that will be eaten by both the local and give a new name(Zubaida, & Tapper,2000). For example, invents a product that has features of a hamburger and that of the ghanoush. This effort will ultimately increase the business of the products and the Arabic foods at large. With the marketing mix, and innovation of new products, the profit generated from the sales is indicated using the above graph. The continuous exploitation of the marketing g mix will eventually promote productivity hence the exponential changes in the profit graph. Promotion For any product to do well in the market, promotion is necessary so that the civilian population may be informed about the product. For the Arabic foods, multimedia promotion is necessary so that many people get to know about the product. Multimedia involves use of photos, video and even audio explaining the essence of consuming the Arabic food. For instance, T-shirts should be printed and given to clients and through that more people will get to know more about the foods and ultimately get a base in the market. Moreover, video and audio advertisement and promotion should be taken to media to ensure that all people both local and international get to know more about the Arabic foods and restaurant. Media is expensive but it will play a huge role in ensuring that products ghost viral. For instance, a video advertisement can be placed on TV describing the Arabic restaurant and benefits associated with feeding on the Arabic diet. Such promotions will lead to high demand of the food and finally promoting the growth of the restaurant and demand of the foods. The key advertising message will be “eat Arabic diet and avoid disease”. The message will hit many ears of the listeners since many Americans are sick in one way or the other. Therefore such message will ensure that they pay attention to the advert and it will ultimately prompt them to buy such foods (Hume, 2006). The promotional budget for the first two years is quite high considering the business is new and it’s in the process of growing. year 2014 2015 Total Jan-April $20,000 $17,000 $37,000 April-august $15,000 $12,000 $27,000 August-December $20,000 $18,000 $28,0000 TOTAL $35,000 $47,000 $92,000 Therefore, the total amount of amount o money to be used on promotion is approximately$92000 for the two years. It should be noted that promotion should not exceed the revenue gained through sales. Conclusion In conclusion, it’s evident that people are suffering from diet related diseases and that can only be solved through enhancing good feeding methods. The cases of obesity and overweight will be reduced if the people adopt Arabic foods. The food should be introduced in the international market in pursuit of a better life and reduced cases of diseases. Consumption of the Arabic food eventually leads to healthy living as a result of the medicinal value associated with the food. The “product” is likely to do well in the market owing the fact that it have medicinal value and balanced in nature. The fact that many people are suffering from various diseases explains why the food product will be accepted highly at the international set up. References Koku, P. S. (2005). Is There A Difference In Tipping In Restaurant Versus Non-restaurant Service Encounters, And Do Ethnicity And Gender Matter?. Journal of Services Marketing, 19(7), 445-452. Hume, S. (2006, July 1). Channel Crossings.(marketing of restaurant industry). Restaurants & Institutions, 3, 23. Tatar, F., Tunç, M. T., Dervisoglu, M., Cekmecelioglu, D., & Kahyaoglu, T. (2014). Evaluation of hemicellulose as a coating material with gum arabic for food microencapsulation. Food Research International, 3, 345-347. Vallianatos, H., & Raine, K. (2008). Consuming Food and Constructing Identities among Arabic and South Asian Immigrant Women. Food, Culture and Society: An International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 11(3), 355-373. Zubaida, S., & Tapper, R. (2000). A taste of thyme: culinary cultures of the Middle East. London: Tauris Parke Paperbacks ;. Read More