Newsweek’s Post

Welp, the value wars are here in fast food. McDonald's is doing $5 meals starting on Tuesday and other chains have jumped on the bandwagon, too. There are plenty of questions to ask about what we mean by "value" when you're getting burger, nuggets, fries, and sodas, and not much in the way real nutritional content. Personally interested to see when this starts hitting the supermarkets -- so many of our food dollars go to groceries, not restaurants, so if you see supermarket price wars happening near you, please let me know!! (Corrected from a previous version saying most of our food dollars are spent at supermarkets. The gap recently closed and in 2022, we spent slightly more on food away from home, post-Covid. Good analysis here for those interested: https://lnkd.in/eVA5HXZv).

Save the Earth...it's the only planet with fast food. Could cheap eats be making a comeback? No chain has taken more heat in the kitchen than McDonald’s, but a new $5 meal bundle could lure diners back. And with it, start a new price war in the industry. Remember the dollar menu and endless BOGOs (buy-one-get-one-free) deals? Those cheap and convenient fast food days are fading fast. Now, for millions of Americans who rely on quick meals, inflation is hitting their wallets hard. Fast-food prices rose nearly 8% over the past twelve months. Fast food restaurants are raising prices, leaving many to search for new ways to afford a once-affordable option. The cracks are showing. It's been a tough quarter for Ronald and gang at Mickey HQ. You can say the same for Colonel Sanders where KFC hasn't been as finger lickin' good with more customers pushing back on higher prices. And the only positive siren song Starbucks is hearing these days comes from the mermaid in its logo. While the idea had franchisees grimace in the past, McDonald's is now planning low-priced meal bundles including a $5 meal that essentially goes back to the basics: sandwich, fries and a drink. Think Happy Meal without the toy. McDonald's campaign is likely to get the sundae machine churning at other chains like Pizza Hut and Burger King about offering their own inexpensive menu options. Even Chipotle, which has actually seen business increase as its played taco bowl roulette with its pricing has to realize what goes up has to eventually come down. And then there's this simple as French fries, yet complicated as what's in a McRib fact - the fast-food industry is fighting over fewer, price-weary customers. Price wars could be the new chicken sandwich wars. Bundles, combo meals, value menus, whatever you want to call them are the new battleground. But there's a ceiling for consumers. They're cutting back in some areas and focusing on necessities. And in the process, they've discovered they don't need fast food as much. Those are words the fast food industry doesn't want to hear https://lnkd.in/gpirTNt9 #mcdonalds #fastfood #consumers #restaurants #franchise

McDonalds could be viewed as a good sense of the wind in retail food & drink. If this is so the case, then said wind blows very strongly upwards this week! Price increase across most menu items, including headline items. Big Mac £3.69 -> £4.59 20 Chicken McNuggets £4.99 -> £5.79 Milkshakes £1.29 ->£1.79 Vege Deluxe £3.59 ->£4.19 McPlant £3.69 -> £4.29 Whilst the McDonald’s spokesperson is quoted as saying. 'We’re a franchised business so prices will vary from restaurant to restaurant, as well as between in-store and delivery.” The trend direction here is clear. They further commented much of the change was driven by ingredients cost and overhead including utility & wage costs. #foodanddrink #food #foodandbeverageservice #chef #highstreet #qsr #fastfood #costofliving #inflation #foodinflation #foodcost #costoflivingcrisis #business #economy #foodservice #catering #hospitality #hospitalityindustry #chefstalk

Here's a demographic explanation: * The demographic curve outside the tropics has shifted heavily toward senior citizens and will continue in that direction for at least another 15-20 years. These are people on fixed incomes who watch as inflation erodes the value of their savings and investments. * More people now work from home, either because they are consultants or never returned to the office and likely never will. This means not only are they out less, but the need to stop by and pick up dinner on the way home has considerably as well * Family size in much of the world has now dropped below its lowest point in the last century, in 1936, so there are fewer children for whom Happy Meals are high cuisine than there have been since before McDonald's was a thing (1955, I believe), and THAT number is dropping. * Grocery stores are increasingly producing ready-to-eat meals that are usually of higher quality and of less dubious provenance than most of what the fast food industry produces. * Tastes have changed - less meat and poultry, less deep-fried food, more awareness about what's actually being cooked. * There are simply fewer teens in the workforce, and this has generally meant that wages are climbing in order to attract and retain those teens (who have traditionally made up the wait staff at McDonalds and elsewhere). This is putting stress on all restaurants, but given that the fast food industry has frequently been particularly bad about paying their workers substandard wages, it's hitting franchisees especially hard, as they have to pay franchise fees on top of paying for food and facilities. I'm noticing a lot of fast food companies closing stores left and right, mostly franchisees that relied heavily on both teens and undocumented labour. Having said all that, I'm not sure $5 value meals will prove to be more than a bandaid over a suppurating ulcer.

#VantageOnFirstpost Fast Food War Between McDonald's and Burger King | Vantage with Palki Sharma US fast food chains McDonald's and Burger King are set for a battle over $5 value meals. Burger King is reportedly planning a value meal after McDonald's unveiled its own earlier this month. The cheaper meals are intended to attract inflation-weary consumers. Beyond the fast-food industry, retail and grocery chains are also cutting prices to revive sales. Target has cut prices of 5,000 products and Walmart has unveiled a new label of predominantly $5 products. Official data shows that US inflation has eased from 2022 to 2024. Why then are US consumers wary of eating at fast food joints? Palki Sharma tells you. --- McDonald's | Burger King | $5 Meal | Fast Food | Firstpost | World News | News Live | Vantage | Palki Sharma | News #fastfood #mcdonalds #burgerking #firstpost #vantageonfirstpost #palkisharma #worldnews

🍔 Globally, Quick Service Restaurants have become a staple for consumers, with 8 out of 10 people opting for their offerings, Worldpanel’s #Foodservice report reveals. While inflation has played a small role in the value numbers for meals, #QSRs have strategically refrained from imposing hefty price hikes, contributing to their success. Inflation proof? No. #Inflation friendly, it seems so.   Read about Greggs success story in the UK, popeyes expansion of its market share in Spain, Burger King’s popularity surge in France and McDonald's in Brazil. 👉 https://lnkd.in/dgR3GRac

🍟 McDonald's exploring $5 value meal According to Bloomberg's anonymous source, McDonald's is considering offering a value meal to maintain customer traffic. The meal would cost $5 and include up to four items: a McChicken or McDouble sandwich, four chicken nuggets, fries, and a drink. However, franchisees resist the plan due to increased wages and operational costs, making breaking even on the four-week promotion difficult. Meanwhile, competitors Burger King and The Wendy's Company are running their nationwide deals. #fastfood #consumersentiment #mcdonalds #value #pricing #lowincomeconsumer #consumerspending

Fast food brands are the main character in our American inflation story. Brands from Chipotle, to McDonald's and Taco Bell have all faced heat online. And as someone working with food and bev brands, I actually think McDonald's is doing quite a good job all things considered. In a Friday blog post, McDonald's president Joe Erlinger, debunked some of the dramatic examples of prices hikes of their own menu circulating on social media. “We have seen social posts and poorly sourced reports that McDonald’s has raised prices significantly beyond inflationary rates. This is inaccurate. For a brand that proudly serves nearly 90% of the US population annually, we feel a responsibility to make sure the real facts are available.” Erlinger went on to list the true prices of McDonald’s menu items - the average price of a Big Mac meal is $9.29 (a 27% increase from 2019). The price for a 10-piece McNugget meal is up 28%. For comparison, Burger King’s Whopper has increased 86% since 2019. While McDonald’s continues to face negative headlines around price hikes and is often ‘the face’ of the fast food industry - I appreciate the blog post from Joe Erlinger. They also announced a summer $5 value meal will run for roughly a month, beginning on June 25. 📚 Read more: https://lnkd.in/gSm9mghE

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Fast Food (and McDonald's)... a villain in the inflation story?!?! Survey 1 (via LendingTree):   ↳ 65% said they’d been “shocked” by a high fast-food bill in past six months. ↳ ~80% consider fast food a “luxury” ↳ 62% say they’re eating it less ↳ 78% say they're concerned about the potential for surge pricing Survey 2 (via Axios): ↳ the study found trust scores for big quick-service brands (including McDonald’s) had fallen, and chalked up the dip largely to higher prices and/or “shrinkflation” (that is, smaller portions). ________ Axios x The Harris Poll x LendingTree x Fast Company