KARACHI: Activity in the fast food sector was sluggish in Ramazan, with dine-in sales for restaurants in particular declined sharply.

A source at a major fast food franchise said that sales dropped in the fasting month.

“Ramazan means that companies have to take a more conservative approach, aiming to usually break even on costs for the holy month rather than looking at any profits,” the source commented.

Moona Sohail, Managing Partner at Francorp, franchising company, seemed to concur with this view as well, although she added that the market did improve a little as the month progressed.

“The activity did improve in Ramazan especially after the first few days or so but there was still an appreciable deviation as compared to normal months,” she said,

One of the main reasons of depressed activity in  the segment seemed to be the fact that restaurants operate on reduced operating hours.

Activity during the daytime in these restaurants in particular comes to a standstill, she added, that the government regulations require restaurants to stay shut for most of the day time in the holy month.

For example restaurants such as (certain branches of) KFC and Mcdonald’s open at 5pm and 6pm respectively compared to their near or complete 24-hour service for the rest of the year.