Chicken, coffee and boycotts: Can global F&B brands bounce back in S-E Asia’s Muslim markets?
Boycotts sparked by the Middle East conflict put Starbucks, McDonald’s and other global F&B brands on the back foot in Indonesia and Malaysia
Add BT as a preferred source
[JAKARTA] Western food and beverage (F&B) franchises in Indonesia and Malaysia are facing one of their toughest challenges in years, caught between consumer boycotts tied to the Middle East conflict and a broader slowdown in household spending, with analysts warning that a full recovery could take some time.
“Foreign brands are confronting two challenges at once: government restrictions and unhappy consumers. When both persist, recovery becomes much harder,” said Roshan Raj, partner at Redseer Strategy Consultants. “Brands usually rebound only when facing a single issue, or when the challenge is short-lived.”
Boycott movements linked to the Gaza conflict have been gaining traction across South-east Asia, though their impact has varied by country. While consumer response in Thailand and Vietnam has been limited, Indonesia and Malaysia have been hit the hardest.
TRENDING NOW
When every phone becomes a satellite phone, what happens to Asia’s telcos?
Koh Brothers Eco Engineering faces up to S$57.6 million in potential liabilities from legal disputes
Too little, too late? Manila’s billion-dollar bid to ignite its sputtering EV industry
DayOne secures S$530 million green loan from DBS, OCBC and UOB for Singapore data centre
