admin Fast-Food prices have skyrocketed after inflation even though now its slowing down. The damage of high prices being set to fast-food products is done and probably there is no going back.
“Inflation has broken the levy wall of low prices at QSRs,” said the restaurant consultant Tim Powell, referencing the industry term for “quick-service restaurants.”
Over the course of two years, fast-food chains such as, McDonald’s, Chipotle, Pizza Hut, Starbucks have raised their menu prices to combat high commodity costs and wages. Long ago, when fast-food was known as one of the cheapest ways to eat, no longer holds its ‘affordable title’ according to many diners.
The new federal data released this month presents the slowing down of inflation with consumer prices leveling. Retailers expect to offer deep discounts for the holidays, but restaurant prices remain on the uptick, especially at fast-food chains. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that fast-food prices in October jumped 6.2% over the past 12 months.
Once chains boost menu prices, they “never lower prices,” Mark Kalinowski, a veteran restaurant analyst, told Business Insider.
Based on the reports we find:
Chipotle recently raised menu prices by 3% in October. It was the fifth menu-price increase the chain has made since June 2021.
Californians can expect Chipotle prices to jump even more next year when the state implements a new fast-food law that will trigger wages to jump by about $4 to $20 an hour in April.
In its latest earnings call in October, McDonald’s said it expects to have raised menu prices in the US by about 10% this year. That’s on top of a 10% increase in fiscal year 2022.
“When you look at the average check of not just McDonald’s but the wider restaurant industry, it is significantly up over the last couple years,” Kalinowski said.
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