Pakistan’s middle class defies ‘conservative’ stereotype
Pakistani customers eat at a Fatburger outlet in Karachi. -Photo by AFP
KARACHI: American fast-food and Western fashion outlets are taking Pakistan’s growing middle class by storm, defying stereotypes about a conservative Muslim country plagued by violence.
The rupee may have nose-dived, a third of the population may live in poverty and sectarian violence may be at a record high, but remarkably, consumer spending is up among a resilient elite fond of imported luxuries.
In a smart corner of Karachi, a new mall offers wealthy clientele the chance to lunch on an American burger, buy French cosmetics, shop for cocktail dresses, sip an afternoon cappuccino or wolf down a cinnamon roll.
Female sales assistants dressed in jeans and T-shirts buck the idea that “service industry” jobs are unsuitable for women, even if many of them commute into work heavily veiled to avoid being harassed or insulted.
“It is time when Pakistanis are getting branded. It is a new phenomenon,” says Samiullah Mohabbat, the chief executive who brought American franchise Fatburger from Beverly Hills to Karachi, a city troubled by shootings and kidnappings.
“The world has just started coming to Pakistan and this trend will grow.”
While the economy has stagnated in the last five years, a business and foreign investment boom after the 9/11 attacks widened employment opportunities. Television was liberalised in 1999 and public sector salaries were increased.
As a result, the middle class has grown over the last decade. Karachi, the country’s financial hub, Lahore and the capital Islamabad have all seen a surge in Western-style coffee shops, fast-food franchises and new malls.
Karachi’s Dolmen Mall is the newest and flashiest.
There is Spanish fashion favourite Mango, US beauty and home firm Crabtree and Evelyn and British high street staples Mothercare and Debenhams.
But when it comes to food, Mohabbat says “American is best”. Regardless of the political tensions in Islamabad’s relations with Washington, many wealthy Pakistanis are attracted to American films, clothes, music and of course food.
Mohabbat has invested $7 million in opening Pakistan’s first Fatburger restaurant last month on the second floor of Dolmen Mall, with plans for another in Karachi, two in Lahore and a fifth in Islamabad.
Far from seeing the country’s troubles as a bar to business, Mohabbat says a $5.50 burger is the perfect antidote.
“Food is the only entertainment in Pakistan,” he said. “People are certainly frightened because of the law and order situation, so they don’t go anywhere except food outlets.”
At lunch time, his 130-seat restaurant is buzzing. In Beverly Hills, there may be nothing exciting about going out for a burger, but in Karachi the novelty and the relative expense make it a sought-after privilege.
The walls are plastered with large notebook papers scribbled with the experiences of the clients. “Yummilicious,” screeches out one.
There is a scrum at the counters as customers wait their turn. A dozen workers cut and cook imported American beef, slathering it with spices and vegetables, shoving it in a bun and handing it to the waiters.
“It’s certainly quite expensive for the average Pakistani, but I prefer it because I can afford it,” says businessman Masroor Afzal, 44, who works round the corner and says he frequently pops over.
“The beauty of Karachi is that it has everything for everyone. There are many people who can’t afford to eat or shop here, but they have other bazaars.”
Analysts say there is enormous potential in Pakistan as a market for global consumer goods, despite the structural problems in the economy.
According to the finance ministry, 104 million people are aged 15 to 59 and by 2030, 30 percent of the population will be younger than 30.
Khurram Schehzad, head of research at investment firm Arif Habib Securities in Karachi, says consumer spending has grown 26 percent in Pakistan since 2010, compared to seven percent for Asia as a whole.
Business mogul Abid Umer says there is “tremendous potential” for retail.
His Al-Karam Group brought its first foreign franchises – Babyshop from Bahrain and Splash from the United Arab Emirates – to Pakistan in 2005. Today his portfolio has extended to Mango.
“Pakistan is full of aspirational customers,” said Umer.
“Sure, Pakistan has its share of issues but in most cases, day to day life is not affected, plus the tremendous customer response and low cost of operations makes it worthwhile.”
On Saturday, a woman and a security guard were shot and wounded when men opened fire in the Dolmen Mall car park, police said.
The motive for the attack was not immediately clear. Witnesses said the woman was accompanied by her daughter and maid. The attackers escaped.
Helen Lacey, Debenhams’ senior PR manager, told AFP the company had carried out extensive market research and had “no current security concerns”.
“International brands in Pakistan in general are performing strongly. This is a large and growing market and there is a clear appetite for British brands here and growth potential with a rapidly growing middle class,” she said.
But Mohabbat admits it can be difficult persuading foreigners to invest in a country plagued by terrorism, political and sectarian murders and a grave energy crisis. Most Western governments advise against travel to Pakistan.
“The most challenging thing for us is to convince people about Pakistan. We put our case and show them the true picture, which does not show Pakistan as a totally dangerous country,” said Mohabbat.
This was an absolutely pointless article.
As already mentioned below by Osman, conservative monotheism has nothing to do with consumption.
It is a retail fact that consumerism peaks during time of socio-political uncertainty. History dictates the same.
This article seems to be a very blatant response to the recent Dolmen security scare. I suggest a graceful acceptance of the situation, an attempt to revamp their security protocol and that next time a cover-up is required, Dawn can try to make the topic a tad more relevant…
To be a target destination for western products is def a win win situation, however unhealthy greasy food whether its pakistani or foreign is always poison.
I live and work outside Pakistan with once a month trip back to Pakistan. Interestingly, whenever I am outside Pakistan I am always looking for Desi food even at much higher price. Whereas when I am back in Pakistan, a “halal” Hardees burger is much more tempting. Can’t really explain this odd behavior! I guess what you can’t have easily has much more desire value to it.
True.
Variety is spice of life. We need more varieties. I could not wait when Karachi can offer, French, Italian, Mexican, German and other fusion food.
If only food and clothes proved that we are “one of them”, we would never have had any problem at the first place. Because everyone in the world eats rice, even the vegetarians across the border!
Fact is, we have a problem and its not in the moderate majority or the middle class where it lies but a fringe minority who have hijacked Pakistan under the banner of Islam. These high school drop outs are not even representing Islam. They are nothing but hate preachers. We need to cleanup the mess with or without burger joints.
Not sure what “vegetarians across the border” have to do with a fast food outlet in Karachi. Some people in Pakistan are so obsessed with India that they can’t help referring to India even if it does not make any sense. Hatred can be this strong only if it is nurtured from early age. May be you can recollect about your upbringing and find out what you have been taught since childhood about “vegetarians” across the border OR how did they hurt you, actually. You still have the right to have your opinion and express it freely but just try and find out where is it rooted.
Inventors of none, consumers of all.
This is how people learn. They see these joints and they take on their business models. And these people are at least making a contribution. What are you doing? Arm chair critics?
Debenhams in pakistan!!!!!
I fail to see how the title of this article makes any sense at all – what does the term conservative have to do with consumption expenditure? Pakistan is still a conservative Muslim country plagued by violence.
The degree of consumption expenditure in an economy does not define a person as a liberal or a conservative. You don’t not eat food from different countries because you are conservative. Otherwise, by that account, Saudi Arabia also “defies conservative stereotypes” because the Saudis love American cars and American food. They are still a conservative people because they don’t let women drive those American cars. You need to learn what the terms “liberal” and “conservative” mean.
agreed
Well said… author is comparing apples and oranges…
i wont say its bad if I cant afford it, its a good sign that we are mingling with world now…
“Fatburgers”. Our desi food is far tastier than any American “junk” food any day! All the local’s need to do is to ‘dress up’ their shops well and keep them hygienically clean and they will perform better than any imported brand names which do nothing but cream off badly needed cash by way of royalties which leaves the country!
I feel the same in India as well. Though I don’t mind going for a burger or western dish occasionally but my first preference will always be different types of Indian cuisines. The thing is that once the local business realize the efficient business model of the western outlets and replicate the same, they will outperform these foreign outlets. Any day I will take a plate of kabab or a delicious plate of puri, samosa or dhosa in exchange of these “Fatburgers”
1) 2000 Calorie Paratha fried in Trans fat is NOT better than any American junk food.
2) This helps the local economy by creating more jobs and boost sales for local suppliers
3) $14B was remitted to Pakistan from overseas Pakistani living in the US alone.
Keep your opinion to yourself and think positive.
@Tariq-agree with your comment. However, sometimes people need a change of taste and even if local shops improve standards, its not definite that customers won’t flock to foreign chains. Most Pakistanis have a love for everything foreign anyways.
Completely agree! The drain on ForEx via the imported junk food vendors is a huge hidden burden on developing countries.
You hit the nail on the head with this one. The ForEx is taking a dump because of junk food royalties. Not because of the corrupt government, energy import and the fact we dont make anything and import everything.
Agree with u 100%. When did the westerners learned cooking? Serve the same burger in a common local restaurant, people would find it less tasty. These junk foods are good occasionally, as a change of taste.
Their marketing strategy and the way the food is presented to the people makes the difference. It’s business. But we should respect this ability of theirs to transform these junks to attractive foods. I wish we could do the same.