Vietnam is a long, skinny country stretching from Hanoi and the Red River in the north to Ho Chi Minh City and the fertile Mekong River Delta in the South. The Vietnamese cuisine has a long history as its country. Before 1975, the term fast food is not in Vietnamese's dictionary. However, the post-war period has seen a growing use of canned food in 1980's, then frozen food from 1990's onwards. This trend has continued to the present day, with the growing popularity of take-away restaurants, and of fast food shops.
One change regarding commercial practice has been the advertising. Advertising has been in Vietnam long time ago, but the outbreak just occurred recently with great spending power and access to increasingly persuasive media. The advertising companies have assailed from all sides by magazines, on television and via sponsorship. The improvement in technology and economy has enabled a larger number of Vietnamese using media, caused the triumph of advertising.
Another change in commercial practice has been the increase of western shops. In recent year, the western fast food had taken the important position in Vietnamese food market. In 1994 the first KFC outlet was established in Ho Chi Minh City, now there are over 20 KFC outlets in the whole country. Apparently, Macdonald's and Burger King didn't miss the chance to assail this promising market. Nowadays, residents can easily find their favorite fast food in Vietnam.
The second principle for the increased in fast food consumption has been the change of lifestyle. The development of economy has the great effect in the Vietnamese's lifestyle.
The amount of rural residents had decreased quickly as they moved to the urban areas to look for jobs. As the result of the demand exceeds the supply, people had to be workaholic in order to maintain their jobs. This caused the demand of consume fast food to increase. The home style meal is less popular than before, the traditional housewives also have to work to help family.