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McDonald’s will be raising menu prices 6% this year, the Wall Street Journal reports. Despite the fact that Chicago-based chain posted third quarter earnings were up, they’re jacking up the price of menu items like French fries and Happy Meals. What’s the reason for the increase? The fast food restaurant is facing a 10% increase in wages and supply costs are up 4%. Aka, the company is passing along these costs right to the diner. We don’t know about you, but there’s just something about fast food being more expensive during a global pandemic that doesn’t sit right with us. Here’s everything you need to know.
McDonald’s Menu Price Increase 2021
In its third-quarter report, McDonald’s notified investors that it had earned a profit of $2.15 billion, global sales were up 12.7% and their same-store sales surpassed pre-Covid-19 levels.
“Our third quarter results are a testament to our unparalleled scale and agility,” said McDonald’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Chris Kempczinski, on October 27th. “Our global comparable sales increased 10% over 2019, which was delivered across an omnichannel experience that is focused on meeting the needs of our customers.”
Simultaneously, the burger giant reported that the higher costs of everything from worker's wages to paper goods would be passed along to consumers, with U.S. prices expected to be up 6% compared with what we were paying for burgers and fries last year. Ouch!
The company also said that it's having a hard time hiring enough workers to operate its restaurants under regular hours. "Certainly I was hoping and expecting that we were going to see the situation improve maybe a little bit more quickly than what’s materialized," Kempczinski bemoaned on the earnings call. Things keep getting worse and worse!
The home of the Golden Arches isn't the only American restaurant chain to announce menu price increases in the second year of the novel coronavirus outbreak. The demand for higher wages for cooks and servers, as well as increases on meat, packaging, vegetable oil and other commodities, has forced Chipotle, Del Taco and Chili's to make a similar decision. Oh, when will all of this end!?
Customers have been noticing for some time that the food chain known for its value has done away with things like the $1 menu, and ushered in pricier, celebrity-backed "combo packages" that clock in at $10-$30. That's not the McDonald's I was raised on!
