If you don’t feel like you’re doing enough to help fast food chains fatten up their bottom line, your opportunities are starting to open up big time.
A new study from Finance Buzz, analyzing menu prices from across the fast food landscape, shows that most chains have raised prices by 60% on average over the last 10 years. But there are five who apparently love the blacker ink on their spreadsheets so much that they’ve gone as far as raising prices more than double the actual inflation rate.
Not lovin’ it
The study’s researchers said that while overall prices have “more than doubled” the rate of inflation, McDonald’s prices have actually “more than tripled.” The drum major in that march to the bank was the McChicken sandwich. In 2014, you could score one off the $1 menu, but now some locations are asking $3.
And the value menu – or what’s left of it – helped McDonald’s considerably. The researchers noted that other former value menu items, such as the McDouble and medium fries, were among the most “egregious" price increases across the McDonald’s menu.
Is this study’s findings a tempest in a teapot? Could be. McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski recently told analysts during an earnings call that the company would focus on "affordability" this year, citing challenges in retaining "low-income consumers" due to complaints about costs like $18 for a Big Mac combo meal.
A 'cheap' bite to eat no longer exists
The Finance Buzz study says after McDonald’s McDouble’d leap, Popeyes had an 86% increase, and Taco Bell was up 81%. Here are some highlights of those increases:
Fast Food Chain | Example Item | Price Increase |
Taco Bell | Doritos® Locos Tacos | 86% |
Taco Bell | Cheesy Gordita Crunch | Doubled |
Taco Bell | Beefy 5-Layer Burrito | 132% |
Chipotle | Entrées | 58% |
Chipotle | Guacamole | 64% |
Starbucks | Average Menu Price Increase | 39% |
Burger King | Average Menu Price Increase | 55% |
On the value side of the menu board sits Subway and Starbucks. Both have raised prices by 39% over the 10-year span. Not that 39% is something that deserves a gold star – it’s just that those two were the only restaurants where prices have risen by less than 50%.
But don’t get too comfortable with that, Starbucks fans, because your love of the cheap may be getting its comeuppance, too. Thanks to having to pay workers more in California, Starbucks has raised prices by as much as 8% in the state.
In light of this study, KFC has decided to go on the offensive. The chicken king has its wings flapping high in the air trying to get consumers' attention about a new value menu it's offering through the end of 2024.
There's a $4.99 box that's your basic two-piece chicken (thigh, drumstick), a side of mashed potatoes, a biscuit for one. The only gotcha is that, unlike most "combo" deals, this one does not include a drink.