Customization killed fast food

Photo by David Maier on Unsplash

When was the last time you went to a fast-food chain and actually received your food fast? 

Seriously, think about it. A quarter-pounder with cheese, fries and a shake used to come out before you had the chance to sit down, yet now it feels like that order takes forever. But what changed? 

Food chains being open 24/7 may mean little-to-no time to reset the kitchen which could lead to inefficiencies. Or maybe it’s because menu items have gotten more complicated. 

Some may even claim that this generation of young fast-food employees are lazier than the last – though I would disagree with that. No, the real culprit of fast-food chains losing the “fast” part of its namesake is customization. 

It seems like every fast-food restaurant gives its customers the option to customize just about everything. 

A cheeseburger at any restaurant can be made with no cheese, extra cheese, no pickles, extra pickles, no onions or even extra onions; you get the point. But the customization issue does not stop there: literally every single item on these menus can be customized to some degree, and when a menu such as the one at McDonald’s has over 100 items, customization can become a serious issue. 

But why is the combination of customization and a massive menu an issue? It all boils down to what fast food fundamentally is – or was. When McDonald’s opened in 1940, its menu contained only nine items: a hamburger, cheeseburger, shakes, fries and five different drinks. This system paired with McDonald’s “Speedee Service System,” which was implemented in 1943, meant their food could be prepared quickly and in massive quantities. Things moved so fast that the food you ordered could be ready to eat before you had even paid for it. The system used by McDonald’s in the ‘40s is virtually extinct in all major fast food brands, but why? Of course, the answer is money.

On a nine-item menu, it is economically viable to pre-cook most items because chances are someone will order each item, but on a 100-item menu, that makes much less sense. You cannot even pre-cook the most popular items. 

Although what two people order could appear as the same item on the menu, what they get could be vastly different depending on preference. A pre-cooked chicken sandwich could be satisfying for one person and abhorrent to another. 

Customization causes the number of unique items to skyrocket; thus, eliminating the viability of pre-cooked food, and significantly increasing the time it takes a line cook to complete the order.

Even Dick McDonald, co-founder of McDonald’s, knew customization on this scale could not work way back in a 1985 interview with the Chicago Tribune. McDonald said, “[If] you make a point of offering a choice, [then] you’re dead – the speed’s gone.” 

Take it from one of the fathers of fast food: your ability to choose what goes on your food ruins any shot that you’ll get it quickly.

It is important to note that exceptions should be made for those with dietary restrictions. Those with allergies or religious exemptions should neither be forced to risk their health or morals for efficiency nor feel bad about asking for alterations. 

However, if you do not want pickles on a burger that comes with pickles, please just take them off yourself.

Or get the alteration; I can’t stop you.