Western brands in desperate straits amid Muslim nations boycotts
3 Min Read
The boycotts are driven by social media and BDS groups and have resulted in significant sales decreases for several businesses like Coca-Cola in Pakistan and Starbucks in Malaysia.
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Pro-Palestine activists and supporters wave flags and hold placards along with a Guy Fawkes mask as they walk past a McDonald's during a protest in central London on March 30, 2024. (AFP)
Boycotts of Western food and beverage brands in Muslim-majority nations, including Coca-Cola, KFC, Starbucks, Mondelez, and Pizza Hut, considerably impacted their profitability.
The boycotts, which are motivated by their support for "Israel", have been widespread and severe, aggravating the impact of a worldwide consumer downturn.
Some multinational corporations have been careful in attempting to minimize its significance while others, such as Mondelez and L'Oréal, have documented particular detrimental consequences on their Middle East sales.
The boycotts are driven by social media and BDS groups and have resulted in significant sales decreases for several businesses like Coca-Cola in Pakistan and Starbucks in Malaysia.
Companies are attempting to handle the issue by lowering their profiles and avoiding more controversy.
The boycotts come at a time when Western companies are already competing with local alternatives and customer tastes shifting toward local items.
Amarpal Sandhu, chief executive of Americana Restaurants, which operates brands such as KFC, Pizza Hut, and Krispy Kreme across the Middle East and Kazakhstan, cited that the event was "unprecedented."
Luca Zaramella, chief financial officer of food producer Mondelez, said the boycotts "remained a headwind," slowing Middle East sales growth by 2% in the second quarter. L'Oréal also said that boycotts hampered growth in the first half of the year by 2 percentage points.
In late July, the Financial Times reported that McDonald's saw its first global sales decrease since 2020.
Recently, it reported a fall in sales in several Middle Eastern nations, as well as Indonesia and Malaysia. Sales were also down in China and France.
In April, McDonald's announced plans to acquire all of its restaurants franchised by the Alonyal group in "Israel".
"I don't think that me boycotting these brands would affect them."
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) October 30, 2023
Think again.#PalestineGenocide #GazaUnderAttack pic.twitter.com/rGkj8vVwKt
Americana outlets, which is controlled by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund and Dubai-based billionaire Mohamed Alabbar, said on Tuesday that its second-quarter profits fell 40% compared to the same period last year, despite launching 81 outlets in the first half of the year.
In Pakistan, the government committed in July to organize a committee to identify and boycott items from firms that "directly or indirectly" support "Israel" or its army.
Coca-Cola İçecek, the bottler of Coca-Cola in Pakistan, claimed sales volumes in the nation declined roughly a quarter year on year in the first three months of 2024, which it blamed on "macroeconomic headwinds" without citing consequences from the boycotts.
In Egypt, PepsiCo television commercials using celebrities such as singer Amr Diab and Egyptian Liverpool player Mo Salah garnered widespread condemnation from social media users
