Burger King: Competition with shawarma places is on the rise

The Romanian crisis modified the consumer behaviour of Romanians, who migrated from traditional restaurants to fast food restaurants, and then to shawarma places.
“Theories say customers migrate from expensive restaurants to cheap ones or from luxury to fast-food. We have customers who have turned to quick service from traditional restaurants. Their number is, however, not high enough to compensate for customers who no longer have a budget for quick service restaurants,” says Monica Eftimie, marketing manager of Atlantic Restaurant System, the company that owns Burger King restaurants in Romania.
Customers who migrated towards Burger King are people with above-average income, who did not give up their eating habits, but who sometimes choose to go to Burger King for lunch. There are also customers who turned from quick-service restaurants to shawarma shops.
“We are in indirect competition with shawarma shops. They used to steal customers in the past, as well, but back then it did not show. But the crisis ‘helped’. Those who turn to shawarma places do it because they think they spend less there.”