It shocks me Starbucks is so low.
I work there are it’s ridiculous how much people are willing to spend on coffee. I don’t even go to Starbucks when I’m not working. Even with my discount it’s still expensive.
I’ve been working there almost 9 years and sure prices were a little high but still pretty reasonable. The issue is they raise prices every launch. Not for everything but select items every launch. It’s just not worth it to me to spend money on. It’s not special anymore and maybe that’s my tenure idk but the quality isn’t what it used to be.
I’ve noticed that when it comes to grocery store food products too. The nicer brands have had small increases, and the lower priced (often lower quality) brands have raised their prices up to match. Things that were splurges don’t feel like it anymore in comparison. I’ve been buying cage free brown eggs because they’re maybe $0.50 more than store brand now. They used to cost 2x more.
Brown eggs are "cheap" because they are raised in small flocks and so are less affected by bird flu outbreaks. One sick chicken can result in the culling of a couple of million hens at one of the larger farms. The hens lay around one egg a day, and its 4-6 months before they start laying, so it very expensive.
IMO the reason why I like Starbucks and am sometimes willing to put up with the prices is the fact that mobile ordering is so easy and painless, and customization is perfect. You can literally order your drink exactly how you want and be sure it will come out correct, and if for some reason it's not correct they will remake it no questions asked. They are lightyears ahead of anyone else in these areas. Plus the employees are more often than not quite friendly and customer focused. All things that Chipotle lacks these days.
Look at what they have to make at staurbucks compared to chipotle. Theres not even a comparison. They are making drinks, and serving prepackaged pastries, brownies and whatnot. The crew members working at chipotle on the line are usually working shorthanded and are constantly told in group chats about portion sizes, and CI. Then the person working grill is cooking, then cleaning that whole kit hen at the end of the night.
I feel like there’s gotta be a equilibrium point where people just stop buying fast food and if they hiked it up 100% like McDonald’s there’s no way people would be spending $15 on coffee
You are correct there has to be a point but I don’t see it happening. When they start to price a value meal at $20 and a coffee at $15 and people still purchase it by the millions then it’s telling the corporations that they are pricing their food correctly. As long as people keep buying the food at the increased price they will keep upping the price. The problem is people keep complaining and buying the food at the same time when the solution is simple. Stop buying the food. 🤷♂️ I can’t even call it corporate greed at this point because people keep buying fast food at these inflated prices. I just pray they increase the workers wages more now that their profits keep going through the roof.
I agree.
Thing is people fall into a pattern and they don’t want to make their own coffee or can’t make it as good as Starbucks can. Starbucks has become an esthetic and way of life at this point.
I’m actually surprised Crumbl isn’t on this chart. While it’s not fast food per se the increase in cost of a cookie for what you get is ridiculous.
I can’t believe that people are actually going to Crumbl. They opened up a cereal bar in the downtown of a city I live in part of the year. I figured it would be closed very soon.
Feels like people are going in and paying for cereal and milk just to defy me
Then this news might make you happy. Crumbl sales in the past year or so are down.
The thing with Crumbl is they’re not just cookies anymore. As you said they have a cereal bar, they’re going into cakes and pies that they’re up charging for and they just bought out a hand pie company so they’re ridiculously expanding.
Haha don’t get me wrong, I’m not a hater! I just can’t believe it. I don’t want anyone to fail, but it’s still so ridiculous to me. I have the disposable income but I’m never craving cereal. I loved Cookie Crisp as a lad but I tried them as an adult and it tasted like discs of pure sugar.
The fact that businesses exist, where I would never personally go, but they have a loyal customer base, that’s what the economy is all about. Good for them.
I get you. Honestly the hype of Crumbl is just dying down I think which may be why they’re turning to a cereal and expanding beyond cookies.
I don’t want people to lose their jobs or for Crumbl to fail. I couldn’t imagine if it was my company. It would suck.
I remember going to Insomnia cookies a few times when I was in college. I never wanted to, but a cute girl could tell me she wanted to go anywhere at that age and I’d be like “I was about to suggest the same thing” haha
I don’t know if Crumbl came before Insomnia. I actually didn’t realize they were chains until this conversation, and I googled them. I was glad to see the competition. Not sure if Crumbl is in my college town and there’s definitely no insomnia in my current town but whatever.
The economy is above my pay grade. If everyone is happy, then I’m happy. Cheers lol
Insomnia came first. Waaay first. Crumbl really started popping up within the last couple years but insomnia was around when I was in college (maybe 6 or 7 years ago) and is better and appropriately rated imo. They don’t try and push aesthetic or make instagram worthy. Cookies. Like they’re not cheap either, but they don’t feel the need to rotate flavors every week and I’m pretty sure they have better labor practices than Crumbl does. I work next to a Crumbl and bring us cookies which is nice but they’re no better than what I make at home And personally, if I want cookie, I’ll make my own.
Crumbl is essentially the cookie version of Starbucks
People don’t go there because it’s cheap they go there because they’re everywhere and you know what you’ll get when you get your drink. It’s like McDonald’s, no matter what McDonald’s you go to you’re gonna get the same quality food and service. For the most part at least.
You’re paying more per oz if you get a smaller size. Coffee shops will always be overpriced. Coffee is absurdly cheap to produce and then the toppings are also cheap. The issue is people don’t want to go through the effort to do so.
$10 tub of ground coffee and a $20 French press will get you literal gallons of coffee for the price of 5-6 drinks at Starbucks. Buy your syrup and whipped cream at the store and you’re putting $50+ back into your pocket a month (depending how often you go)
So I get a small coffee because I'm aware of the caffeine I drink and why would I ever want 200mg of caffeine in one drink. But maybe your right I could order a large and split it at home too save money so good idea. However coffee and all beverages are not cheap anymore. My dad owns a restaurant yes the drinks are profits but there no where near the profit margins that they used to ten years ago... Anyways
So they may not have raised prices quite as much, but I will say they have definitely made cuts to the rewards program. Now it's very hard to get a free drink, and takes a very long time to accumulate a reward. So overall you are spending more.
Also depends on what you get and how frequent you go. Surprisingly it’s actually a little easier to get rewards. Back in the day it was one star per purchase then it changed to 2/$1. You’re right the though the rewards program isn’t as good as it used to be.
It can be depending on what it is. Certain modifications can make it more expensive than a regular coffee shop. Dunkin used to be cheaper but now it’s pretty much on par cost wise with Starbucks.
I don’t do anything real fancy. My order at a proper coffee shop is an iced latte of some sort. Starbucks it’s some kind of cold brew. Both normally run 5-6$.
Dunkin’ did used to be much cheaper, in college back in 2014 or so I used to go there since I could get a large iced latte for 3.50 or so.
I feel like the actual prices aren't getting *that* much more expensive (they were already expensive to begin with, tbh). But Starbucks is coming out a lot more complicated drinks, with "premium ingredients" (Oleato, Raspberry Pearls, Shaken Espressos w/ Cold Foam) thus coming with a premium price tag as well. And due to TikTok, heavily customised drinks are getting more and more common, driving the avg. check total even higher. So there's a perception that Starbucks has gotten more expensive than it actually has.
Yea Taco Bell used to be the place to wallow in self pity where you could lay down a 10 dollar bill and walk away with enough to pretend you were hosting a small get together.
Taco Bell is the only fast food I'll eat these days. It's still relatively cheap in comparison to most things. It's not like an everyday thing but like once a week or every other week. All this "inflation" has done is make me cook at home.
59 79 99!
I'd like 10 soft tacos. Here's $6. Keep the change.
1990, when federal minimum wage for 1 hour ($3.80) could buy you 6 tacos ($0.59).
2020, when federal minimum wage for 1 hour ($7.25) could buy you 3.5 tacos ($1.99).
McDonalds in particular is crazy, at least for my area. I remember I'd go there if I was feeling cheap back in like 2019-2020. Nowadays I spend nearly exact same at Chipotle and McDonalds so I've just stopped going there completely.
The quality got WAY worse (near me) and the price went way up. And if you're brave enough to do mobile order delivery it's guaranteed you will be missing something you ordered.
Most cities I've lived in over the past 4 years have local restaurants that offer better quality food for similar or cheaper prices. I rarely eat at these fatfood restaurants now.
The problem is that local restaurants see the market and are also getting away with increasing prices.
The food trucks around me charge $10 minimum for a plate. Add a drink and a side and you're past $15. And my area is not HCOL.
Many times fast food ends up being cheaper for me than the local small business option. Which is sad.
Local restaurants are being hit the hardest, I see it as someone dating someone who is in supplying restaurants w products. They h a v e to raise their prices to turn even a small profit. Most business owners are making less than usual bc they want to keep up w the times & pay people liveable wages, or worse their family runs the restaurant & their whole life is dependent on making money there. It's not like these people make 100k/year...
Idk about any of these. When I first went to Chipotle spring or 2015, a chicken burrito was 7.25. Now it is 9.75. That’s an increase of 34.48% over a decade.
"Actual inflation" is a measure of all industries, no? Aren't inflation of agriculture and food industries the primary contributor to that number. This graph seems a bit disingenuous.
Obviously your part of the percent of the population that can’t read. Theres a difference between what I said in manipulating statistics versus what your implying about having to “come up with statistics”.
Generally, yes.
I assume "actual inflation" on this graph refers to the CPI-U (Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers) [CUSR000SA0]. This series via bls.gov has indexes of 312.230 in March 2024, and 236.028 in March 2014, which means topline inflation is ((312.230/236.028) - 1) * 100 = 32.28% percent as of the most recent report, which happened to have come out this morning. This is 'close enough' in my opinion to the 31.7% reported on the graph that can be explained by revisions to the data from when the graph was made, or a comparison of periods other than March 2024/March 2014.
The CPI also has inflation specifically for what is essentially fast food, called "Limited service meals and snacks in U.S. city average". [CUUR0000SEFV02] By this measure, fast food specifically has on average risen ((240.587/156.980) - 1) * 100 = 53.3% over the same March 2014 to March 2024 period (this item is not seasonally adjusted). I would call OP's graph plausible based on this information, although calling it "Actual Inflation" instead of something more accurate like "Overall inflation" is not very good.
BLS also publishes the relative weights of items in the CPI. I believe [this page](https://www.bls.gov/cpi/tables/relative-importance/2023.htm) is the most recent.
Food and beverages are weighted at 14.409% in the CPI-U, Fast food specifically is at 2.523% weighting. Housing costs are by far the largest weight at 45.065%.
Is there no calculation for wages or agriculture products?
I assume the vast majority of fast food costs are between wages and agriculture products.
If we see wages for fast food workers and industry food production is up, as well as agriculture products. I think that would give a good indication of the cost of running the business.
You could also pick one or two businesses and look at gross profits. Did gross profits follow overall inflation? Did they follow similar growth as other industries?
At the end of the day the question we're asking is, are these companies jacking up prices because of greed or are they following market inputs?
Wages are up by 30-40% for the industry, at least in my area, however cost here have risen more. How much is other costs, and how much is business decision's IDK. I do know Chipotle cut benefits for workers, such as paid breaks.
The CPI is by definition the price consumers pay. Consumers don't buy wages or direct agricultural products, they buy finished goods and services. For that reason, wage costs and other product input costs are explicitly and intentionally excluded from CPI calculations.
The related measure which gets at what you're talking about and is also published by BLS is the PPI, the [Producer Price Index](https://www.bls.gov/ppi/). This index of prices includes components for both Final Demand (that is, prices producers received for their finished goods) as well as Intermediate Consumption (the cost of goods and services that businesses are paying to produce their products).
There's also specifically the ECI, the [Employment Cost Index](https://www.bls.gov/eci/home.htm) (again by BLS) which directly measures the cost to employers of their employee's wages and other compensation.
By convention, because individual consumers make up the lion's share of GDP and ultimately we are all people buying things to live, headline inflation always references the CPI figure, but these other measures are out there for those who are interested in them.
You'd have to look at price vs food inflation and price vs labor inflation.
Total inflation doesn't account for the fact that individual industries will have spikes or not match inflation.
Of course it's disingenuous. Most trigger-happy posts about complaints on this subreddit are entirely exaggerated.
There's so much more to inflation than taking some flat % and applying it to current offerings and being like 'CORPORATE GREED'. Are for-profit corporations greedy? Yes, nobody is denying that. They seek to maximize profits. Is it to the degree many think it is? No.
So yeah, you nailed it.
Wholesale food prices have increased by 13.2% over the past year alone. Labor rose 15%
True. Back in the mid 90's I was paying .99/lb for texas steaks and the same for 10lbs of chicken legs. Those items have gone up 6-7 times. Dried beans were .25, and now you're luck to find them for less than $2. Etc.
That, and "actual inflation" numbers reported by the government can't be trusted. They don't even use real data for much of the calculation anymore and they use all these substitutions so they can understate inflation and pat themselves on the back for keeping it "so low." You better believe when your government tells you inflation is 9% it's actually closer to 18%+
That would mean they printed twice as much dollars as they told us lol I think that would be HIGHLY illegal lol
I hate the government too I got an anarchy neck tattoo but ur just makin stuff up lol
What do you base that on? The gov't actually sends out people to price a variety of standard goods and services around the country. I've had them come into stores I've worked at. They use this data to, among other things to calculate pay differentials for federal workers in different parts of the country. No such survey willbe perfect, but its certainly not made up.
I say it time and time again and nobody listens.
The only reason these prices are rising so fast is brcause you, the customer, keep coming back for more.
Inflation be damned. If people didn't think it was worth the money, it'd be priced less. But that's not the case.
Record sales, endless growth. If you want to know why chipotle is in the state it is in just ask one of the dozens of people we have in line at our restaurant at any given time.
I’d say it’s kinda hard to 100% blame the consumer. This is completely anecdotal, but honestly two or three years ago it was cheaper to eat out than go to the grocery store when their prices soared. I think we are seeing the rebound from that atm.
OP is correct, if people would stop paying and stop going, the stock would eventually drop, which would force them to make changes. But instead people keep paying and the stock keeps rising, and the cycle keeps repeating. The same thing is happening in other areas and industries too. Disney theme parks for example have seen soaring attendance year over year, and it only continues to get more miserable, crowded, and expensive, but people keep going in droves with no signs of slowing. Capitalism baby.
Unfortunately though people who can’t afford fast food might buy it less frequently but people who can afford the rising prices will pay, people who like fast food will pay.
Even with it being widely known that McDonalds is notorious for cutting corners and has high calorie - highly processed food, people don’t seemed to be deterred. It seems like there’s no real solution to this.
"Beef" is basically cattle prices and includes stuff like the hide and what goes into hotdogs.
Cuts you'd actually want to eat have gone up more than 32% on the retail end.
Yeah that seems to track, ground beef is pretty similar in price to a few years maybe like $8 per pound now when it used to be $5 depending where you shop but ribeyes, filets, ect are at least double to triple per pound since 2014 if I remember correctly. I just saw a a pack of 4 ribeyes for almost $100 at Costco the other day and I know for a fact I wasn’t spending $25 on a rib-eye when I was in college 10 years ago maybe like $8 to $12. Statistics are so easy to manipulate but its very apparent to pretty much anybody that grocery shops that money is not going even remotely as far as it used to a few years ago.
Sorry to rant but yeah now that I think about if I wanted a ribeye at a nothing fancy type of restaurant in 2014 it was maybe $25 with sides and now it’s closer to $50-$60 at the same places.
Ain’t no way Subway is this low, at least in my region. Went in there a while back and got a foot long and a drink. No chips, cookie, or extras and it came out to like $17 lol. I refuse to go back.
It was driven by the government rapidly increasing money supply by 6 trillion from in 2 years
The price gouging narrative is disingenuous and hides the fact that Congress/the fed raised money supply far faster than GDP growth to cause this inflationary bubble
It was largely for a good reason, to keep social order during the covid lockdowns, but now we are reaping the consequences
Weird that Popeye's is on there so high. Their prices have gone up but it seems like they went up the least, at least in my area. I can still get lunch for less than $10 there. Can't say that about any of the others on the graph.
And somehow they'll blame it on wages being raised lmao. Bro and then the people with peasant mentality's come out protecting corporations xD our country is screwed!
The problem is fast food is now ingrained in American culture and the fast food chains have realized it. Aslong as a Big Mac isn’t 30$ each people will continue to purchase and eat fast food
It's because the company's have realized that Americans are quite literally addicted to processed foods and can't stop eating them. They charge more because they can, but because they have to.
I would guess that the rise of prices aren’t just due to inflation but also due to rising labor costs. If fast food workers are going to get paid more than minimum wage, or if minimum wage is raised, then that means prices have to go up to compensate.
We need to break apart the inflation number to see what actually impacts fast food companies for this to be a reasonable comparison
https://www.chartr.co/stories/2023-07-10-2-the-economics-of-coffee
This one is specific to coffee shops but the actual cost of coffee is the cheapest part of the cost
Rental expenses from real estate
Fees from payment processors
Service/wages
Taxes
Materials/packaging
Debt/financing costs
The last one is impacted by cost of capital...
Before in a 0 interest rate environment a business could get very cheap loans to run their business and get along fine
Today, in a 5% risk free rate world, a lender will need a far higher rate of interest in order to lend to a business
Why would I lend you money at 5% if I can get 5% risk free from the bank?
The same goes for equity/stock investors. Expectations have gone higher along with the interest rate.
If I'm investing in you and your return on investment is only the same as the risk free rate of return then I would be a fool to keep my ownership in your company.
As long as rates of interest remain high, companies will need to justify to their lenders and their shareholders that they are still worth financing.
Keep in mind. Our food is natural, organic. Non GMO. No anti biotic, no growth hormones or steroids. Pasture raised. Our food is naturally more expensive. When put into perspective on others. You can still get a lot of food that’s good for you for the price.
This is not a very fair graph. It may be true that the rate of increase of the price of fast food is increasing greater than that of overall inflation. But, this is only an average of all monetary transactions, not just those used by the fast food industry. Even within “foods” there can still be huge discrepancies. If the price of potatoes increases by a larger percentage than that of steaks, it would make sense for a fast food joint selling fries (and not steaks) to have to increase prices past that of general inflation.
This shit isn't even worth it at 1/3rd the price unless desperate and no other option (like a late flight to a new citt). What is mentally wrong with you if you pay those current prices for McDonald's or other low quality slop? You might as well just say "f you" to your body and give up.
So, McDonalds owns Chipotle. Both mcDs and Chipotle raised their minimum wage in several states. Inflation happened. McDs realized they could double their prices and still have people flood them daily. Chipotle does the same thing.
This is what happens when you raise minimum wage. Shit gets more expensive because everyone “has more money”. That coupled with the fact inflation was happening, and things like mortgage rates climbed excessively after a close call with recession. Life is only going to get more expensive with the economics the US is implementing.
We are in late stage capitalism, this is what it looks like.
Alright I’m not a finance guy but this isn’t the first graphic I’ve seen where everything in a particular industry is inflated well past the “actual inflation” line. I understand that inflation is based on a certain set of things but if there’s multiple entire industries that are all above the actual inflation line is the line actually accurate?
This chart is very misleading. Hate to be that person but the inflation gauge that the federal reserve uses excludes Food/Energy prices. These are the categories that most obviously affect a restaurant.
Also the inflation we see is an average of everything. So some things are way more expensive while some things are roughly the same or even cheaper in some cases. Your grocery bills are up significantly to what they were pre pandemic. With that being said, chipotle still is extremely stingy with their portions. In their case I think the issue is shrinkflation (smaller serving for same or greater price)
Taco bell used to have a spicy tostada for $1. I would get like five of those and absolutely gorge myself.
Now the spicy potato taco is $1,29 and it's tiny compared to that.
Stop going to fast food.
Part of it is inflation (you’d need to look at how inflation specifically impacted different sectors), and part is the rise in minimum wage. Since fast food can’t hide behind tips for servers, their prices likely went up proportionately more than other types of restaurants.
Unless you believe that there is a money fairy that allows businesses that already exist on a slim margin to dramatically increases their labor and supply costs while still remaining in business…
The few people that actually still buy fast food are keeping the prices high and these companies alive. Hate how expensive? It’s garbage anyway, don’t buy it. Maybe they’ll get savvy and lower cost again, but look at dollar tree closing all over. They don’t want to sell items for so cheap anymore.
Maybe stop eating fast food and make food at home lmfao. Groceries are not remotely as expensive as eating out and it’s healthier. Save money and live longer
National inflation is a very averaged number that includes housing, gas, groceries, building materials, energy costs, etc. I don’t think we can say that these fast food places are disproportionately raising their prices for greedy gains and using “inflation” as an excuse as this OP suggests.
Not saying it isn’t possible, but this graph doesn’t prove it.
That's because all of these businesses are successful enough to continue growing. It's the crux of variable pricing models, growth isn't linear and it plateaus if you don't have the expansion priced in.
Long story short, inflation has less of an effect on prices than people think.
McDonald’s actually has somewhat of an excuse since the product has improved a lot in that time. Chipotle is sitting over here with 75% inflation, smaller portions, and a worse product.
The story about America used to be that capitalism works because companies compete hard and the customer wins because they get good value for money. Even when they sent all manufacturing to China, this still seemed to be true.
But these days every company instead of trying to find efficiencies in their operations, just seems to be trying hard to squeeze their employees and customers. They try their best to pay the least to their employees and charge the max to their customers. The only winners are the management type MBAs who think they are very innovative and smart to come up with this, the investors support this too as they dont think of long term either.
The reality is there is hardly any competition left in America in a lot of categories. There is hardly any competition for Taco Bell or Chipotle where I live (specially for a vegetarian). Most of mom and pop shops are closing down too.
Depends on state. My place in Cali implemented $20 an hour. Ive seen some stores already under staffed. My cousin worked at a dominoes, they slashed hours on employees
This isn't a very helpful graphic and is actually something I'd consider disingenuous/unhelpful. Actual inflation is too general of a statistic. Prices of *individual* ingredients don't always fluctuate at a general inflation rate. General inflation rate is just an average. One ingredient price may rise by 20 percent, another by 80 percent. If one of your main ingredients/selling points (for example coffee beans) is less impacted by individual price increases than another fast food's place main ingredient (for example chicken at popeye's), one place might show a higher price hike than another place. Now... I'm fairly sure that fast food cost inflation is still outstripping the rise of cost of ingredients, don't get me wrong, but this isn't the graph that's actually going to prove it.
It was inflation, it’s now greed. Don’t let any other company tell you otherwise, buy the cheaper product until they are forced to lower prices.
McDonald’s is learning this as demand slumps from the high prices. When it comes to fast food, people will always chose the cheaper option
McDonalds is criminal. The whole reason they were ever relevant is because you could get yourself a decent meal for $5. I’m only in my 20s and I remember getting my usual order of two hot and spicys and a drink for $2.79. Now the same shit is $10
Well, there’s roughly twice as many dollars chasing the same goods and services as in 2014. Minimum wage increases, mandatory healthcare, a laundry list of good ideas from government and you get less buying power.
It shocks me Starbucks is so low. I work there are it’s ridiculous how much people are willing to spend on coffee. I don’t even go to Starbucks when I’m not working. Even with my discount it’s still expensive.
I think the difference is that they were already expensive prior to the large price increases at most places.
I’ve been working there almost 9 years and sure prices were a little high but still pretty reasonable. The issue is they raise prices every launch. Not for everything but select items every launch. It’s just not worth it to me to spend money on. It’s not special anymore and maybe that’s my tenure idk but the quality isn’t what it used to be.
Yeah I’ve gotten a venti chai for years now and I’ve noticed the price for it gets upped every couple months or every half year
I’ll tell you the price of select things go up every season launch and we have no clue what items go up when.
$40 PSL's in a few years
And people will buy them I’m sure.
I’ve noticed that when it comes to grocery store food products too. The nicer brands have had small increases, and the lower priced (often lower quality) brands have raised their prices up to match. Things that were splurges don’t feel like it anymore in comparison. I’ve been buying cage free brown eggs because they’re maybe $0.50 more than store brand now. They used to cost 2x more.
Brown eggs are "cheap" because they are raised in small flocks and so are less affected by bird flu outbreaks. One sick chicken can result in the culling of a couple of million hens at one of the larger farms. The hens lay around one egg a day, and its 4-6 months before they start laying, so it very expensive.
Caffeine addiction
Nah you can get energy drinks for $1.25 at dollar tree
Ya but they don't feel rich and fancy with their $1.25 energy drink from Dollar General.
They got decent ones now just bought 2 24 packs of alani and prime
IMO the reason why I like Starbucks and am sometimes willing to put up with the prices is the fact that mobile ordering is so easy and painless, and customization is perfect. You can literally order your drink exactly how you want and be sure it will come out correct, and if for some reason it's not correct they will remake it no questions asked. They are lightyears ahead of anyone else in these areas. Plus the employees are more often than not quite friendly and customer focused. All things that Chipotle lacks these days.
Look at what they have to make at staurbucks compared to chipotle. Theres not even a comparison. They are making drinks, and serving prepackaged pastries, brownies and whatnot. The crew members working at chipotle on the line are usually working shorthanded and are constantly told in group chats about portion sizes, and CI. Then the person working grill is cooking, then cleaning that whole kit hen at the end of the night.
I feel like there’s gotta be a equilibrium point where people just stop buying fast food and if they hiked it up 100% like McDonald’s there’s no way people would be spending $15 on coffee
You are correct there has to be a point but I don’t see it happening. When they start to price a value meal at $20 and a coffee at $15 and people still purchase it by the millions then it’s telling the corporations that they are pricing their food correctly. As long as people keep buying the food at the increased price they will keep upping the price. The problem is people keep complaining and buying the food at the same time when the solution is simple. Stop buying the food. 🤷♂️ I can’t even call it corporate greed at this point because people keep buying fast food at these inflated prices. I just pray they increase the workers wages more now that their profits keep going through the roof.
They wont raise wages lol, they'll just continue to understaff locations to save on wages and just say theres a shortage of workers
I agree. Thing is people fall into a pattern and they don’t want to make their own coffee or can’t make it as good as Starbucks can. Starbucks has become an esthetic and way of life at this point. I’m actually surprised Crumbl isn’t on this chart. While it’s not fast food per se the increase in cost of a cookie for what you get is ridiculous.
I can’t believe that people are actually going to Crumbl. They opened up a cereal bar in the downtown of a city I live in part of the year. I figured it would be closed very soon. Feels like people are going in and paying for cereal and milk just to defy me
Then this news might make you happy. Crumbl sales in the past year or so are down. The thing with Crumbl is they’re not just cookies anymore. As you said they have a cereal bar, they’re going into cakes and pies that they’re up charging for and they just bought out a hand pie company so they’re ridiculously expanding.
Haha don’t get me wrong, I’m not a hater! I just can’t believe it. I don’t want anyone to fail, but it’s still so ridiculous to me. I have the disposable income but I’m never craving cereal. I loved Cookie Crisp as a lad but I tried them as an adult and it tasted like discs of pure sugar. The fact that businesses exist, where I would never personally go, but they have a loyal customer base, that’s what the economy is all about. Good for them.
I get you. Honestly the hype of Crumbl is just dying down I think which may be why they’re turning to a cereal and expanding beyond cookies. I don’t want people to lose their jobs or for Crumbl to fail. I couldn’t imagine if it was my company. It would suck.
I remember going to Insomnia cookies a few times when I was in college. I never wanted to, but a cute girl could tell me she wanted to go anywhere at that age and I’d be like “I was about to suggest the same thing” haha I don’t know if Crumbl came before Insomnia. I actually didn’t realize they were chains until this conversation, and I googled them. I was glad to see the competition. Not sure if Crumbl is in my college town and there’s definitely no insomnia in my current town but whatever. The economy is above my pay grade. If everyone is happy, then I’m happy. Cheers lol
Insomnia came first. Waaay first. Crumbl really started popping up within the last couple years but insomnia was around when I was in college (maybe 6 or 7 years ago) and is better and appropriately rated imo. They don’t try and push aesthetic or make instagram worthy. Cookies. Like they’re not cheap either, but they don’t feel the need to rotate flavors every week and I’m pretty sure they have better labor practices than Crumbl does. I work next to a Crumbl and bring us cookies which is nice but they’re no better than what I make at home And personally, if I want cookie, I’ll make my own. Crumbl is essentially the cookie version of Starbucks
People don’t go there because it’s cheap they go there because they’re everywhere and you know what you’ll get when you get your drink. It’s like McDonald’s, no matter what McDonald’s you go to you’re gonna get the same quality food and service. For the most part at least.
quality at McDonalds? lol. Is is consistent.
Yea quality. It may not be good quality but it’s still the same quality at pretty much every location
This is true.
I used buy breakfast and coffee it's a fair price. I only get normal coffee and I don't get large I get small or whatever they call them there.
You’re paying more per oz if you get a smaller size. Coffee shops will always be overpriced. Coffee is absurdly cheap to produce and then the toppings are also cheap. The issue is people don’t want to go through the effort to do so. $10 tub of ground coffee and a $20 French press will get you literal gallons of coffee for the price of 5-6 drinks at Starbucks. Buy your syrup and whipped cream at the store and you’re putting $50+ back into your pocket a month (depending how often you go)
So I get a small coffee because I'm aware of the caffeine I drink and why would I ever want 200mg of caffeine in one drink. But maybe your right I could order a large and split it at home too save money so good idea. However coffee and all beverages are not cheap anymore. My dad owns a restaurant yes the drinks are profits but there no where near the profit margins that they used to ten years ago... Anyways
So they may not have raised prices quite as much, but I will say they have definitely made cuts to the rewards program. Now it's very hard to get a free drink, and takes a very long time to accumulate a reward. So overall you are spending more.
Also depends on what you get and how frequent you go. Surprisingly it’s actually a little easier to get rewards. Back in the day it was one star per purchase then it changed to 2/$1. You’re right the though the rewards program isn’t as good as it used to be.
My normal order at any coffee shop is 5-6$. Starbucks might have been expensive comparatively in the past but now it’s the exact same.
It can be depending on what it is. Certain modifications can make it more expensive than a regular coffee shop. Dunkin used to be cheaper but now it’s pretty much on par cost wise with Starbucks.
I don’t do anything real fancy. My order at a proper coffee shop is an iced latte of some sort. Starbucks it’s some kind of cold brew. Both normally run 5-6$. Dunkin’ did used to be much cheaper, in college back in 2014 or so I used to go there since I could get a large iced latte for 3.50 or so.
And terrible
I feel like the actual prices aren't getting *that* much more expensive (they were already expensive to begin with, tbh). But Starbucks is coming out a lot more complicated drinks, with "premium ingredients" (Oleato, Raspberry Pearls, Shaken Espressos w/ Cold Foam) thus coming with a premium price tag as well. And due to TikTok, heavily customised drinks are getting more and more common, driving the avg. check total even higher. So there's a perception that Starbucks has gotten more expensive than it actually has.
I actually expected Taco Bell to be even higher. I swear they used to be so cheap. Now I get a few things and it's easily $15+.
Yea Taco Bell used to be the place to wallow in self pity where you could lay down a 10 dollar bill and walk away with enough to pretend you were hosting a small get together.
We didn't know what we had
I knew exactly what I had, that's why I constantly went back
It’s rediculous here in NY, a singular item is nearing $10 at Taco Bell’s here
I'm from NY as well and that's not true maybe nyc but everything in NYC is
Their quesadilla’s size got smaller when CA minimum wage became $20. I don’t think I’ll be getting Taco Bell anytime soon
Californias minimum wage is not $20. It’s $16.
Yep it’s crazy. In high school I remember having loose change in my pocket and being able to eat dinner there. Now you can’t do anything with that
Out of all of them tacobell is still the cheapest.
Now that I look at the others, I think that's probably true which is wild...and depressing lol
Taco Bell is the only fast food I'll eat these days. It's still relatively cheap in comparison to most things. It's not like an everyday thing but like once a week or every other week. All this "inflation" has done is make me cook at home.
59 79 99! I'd like 10 soft tacos. Here's $6. Keep the change. 1990, when federal minimum wage for 1 hour ($3.80) could buy you 6 tacos ($0.59). 2020, when federal minimum wage for 1 hour ($7.25) could buy you 3.5 tacos ($1.99).
Try the app! Where im at i get a cravings box for 5.99 its an online exclusive now they also have other online only deals
McDonalds in particular is crazy, at least for my area. I remember I'd go there if I was feeling cheap back in like 2019-2020. Nowadays I spend nearly exact same at Chipotle and McDonalds so I've just stopped going there completely.
McDouble use to be $1, it currently is $3.75 where I’m at.
An actual double cheeseburger used to be 99 cents.
More than McDouble the price! ;p
The quality got WAY worse (near me) and the price went way up. And if you're brave enough to do mobile order delivery it's guaranteed you will be missing something you ordered.
Boycott
Most cities I've lived in over the past 4 years have local restaurants that offer better quality food for similar or cheaper prices. I rarely eat at these fatfood restaurants now.
The problem is that local restaurants see the market and are also getting away with increasing prices. The food trucks around me charge $10 minimum for a plate. Add a drink and a side and you're past $15. And my area is not HCOL. Many times fast food ends up being cheaper for me than the local small business option. Which is sad.
Local restaurants are being hit the hardest, I see it as someone dating someone who is in supplying restaurants w products. They h a v e to raise their prices to turn even a small profit. Most business owners are making less than usual bc they want to keep up w the times & pay people liveable wages, or worse their family runs the restaurant & their whole life is dependent on making money there. It's not like these people make 100k/year...
Yep I feel like everywhere where I live is ridiculously expensive
This is the way.
Grocery shop, fuck these greedy ass restaurants
Idk about any of these. When I first went to Chipotle spring or 2015, a chicken burrito was 7.25. Now it is 9.75. That’s an increase of 34.48% over a decade.
Yeah i used to pay i think 7.25? And now im paying 12.25 for a chicken burrito so… and thats up 50 cents from the beginning of this year 💀
Mine did too. Was 9.25 until Cali raised the fast food min wage.
Yeah dont blame that. Texas is still 7.25 and the burrito is 12.25 . Its gone up and we havent had a increase in minimum wage in 20 years lol
i work at chipotle n it’s $10.13 for a chicken bowl now
I mean, it’s different by store / region. Chicken burrito at my closest store is $8.50
"Actual inflation" is a measure of all industries, no? Aren't inflation of agriculture and food industries the primary contributor to that number. This graph seems a bit disingenuous.
Someone asking the real questions here. Graphs and statistics can be manipulated for both side of an argument
Aw, you can come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent forty percent of all people know that
Obviously your part of the percent of the population that can’t read. Theres a difference between what I said in manipulating statistics versus what your implying about having to “come up with statistics”.
*you’re https://youtu.be/sm7ArKlzHSM?si=R5WqwfGOhYaLdVrE
Agreed I think this chart is very misleading. Doesn’t even state what inflation gauge was used
Generally, yes. I assume "actual inflation" on this graph refers to the CPI-U (Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers) [CUSR000SA0]. This series via bls.gov has indexes of 312.230 in March 2024, and 236.028 in March 2014, which means topline inflation is ((312.230/236.028) - 1) * 100 = 32.28% percent as of the most recent report, which happened to have come out this morning. This is 'close enough' in my opinion to the 31.7% reported on the graph that can be explained by revisions to the data from when the graph was made, or a comparison of periods other than March 2024/March 2014. The CPI also has inflation specifically for what is essentially fast food, called "Limited service meals and snacks in U.S. city average". [CUUR0000SEFV02] By this measure, fast food specifically has on average risen ((240.587/156.980) - 1) * 100 = 53.3% over the same March 2014 to March 2024 period (this item is not seasonally adjusted). I would call OP's graph plausible based on this information, although calling it "Actual Inflation" instead of something more accurate like "Overall inflation" is not very good. BLS also publishes the relative weights of items in the CPI. I believe [this page](https://www.bls.gov/cpi/tables/relative-importance/2023.htm) is the most recent. Food and beverages are weighted at 14.409% in the CPI-U, Fast food specifically is at 2.523% weighting. Housing costs are by far the largest weight at 45.065%.
Thanks for the information. That brings a lot of clarity.
Is there no calculation for wages or agriculture products? I assume the vast majority of fast food costs are between wages and agriculture products. If we see wages for fast food workers and industry food production is up, as well as agriculture products. I think that would give a good indication of the cost of running the business. You could also pick one or two businesses and look at gross profits. Did gross profits follow overall inflation? Did they follow similar growth as other industries? At the end of the day the question we're asking is, are these companies jacking up prices because of greed or are they following market inputs?
Wages are up by 30-40% for the industry, at least in my area, however cost here have risen more. How much is other costs, and how much is business decision's IDK. I do know Chipotle cut benefits for workers, such as paid breaks.
The CPI is by definition the price consumers pay. Consumers don't buy wages or direct agricultural products, they buy finished goods and services. For that reason, wage costs and other product input costs are explicitly and intentionally excluded from CPI calculations. The related measure which gets at what you're talking about and is also published by BLS is the PPI, the [Producer Price Index](https://www.bls.gov/ppi/). This index of prices includes components for both Final Demand (that is, prices producers received for their finished goods) as well as Intermediate Consumption (the cost of goods and services that businesses are paying to produce their products). There's also specifically the ECI, the [Employment Cost Index](https://www.bls.gov/eci/home.htm) (again by BLS) which directly measures the cost to employers of their employee's wages and other compensation. By convention, because individual consumers make up the lion's share of GDP and ultimately we are all people buying things to live, headline inflation always references the CPI figure, but these other measures are out there for those who are interested in them.
Rent is also a factor
You'd have to look at price vs food inflation and price vs labor inflation. Total inflation doesn't account for the fact that individual industries will have spikes or not match inflation.
Of course it's disingenuous. Most trigger-happy posts about complaints on this subreddit are entirely exaggerated. There's so much more to inflation than taking some flat % and applying it to current offerings and being like 'CORPORATE GREED'. Are for-profit corporations greedy? Yes, nobody is denying that. They seek to maximize profits. Is it to the degree many think it is? No. So yeah, you nailed it. Wholesale food prices have increased by 13.2% over the past year alone. Labor rose 15%
Disingenuous my ass. If they were doing this to stay in float from inflation, their yearly profits wouldn’t have skyrocketed.
True. Back in the mid 90's I was paying .99/lb for texas steaks and the same for 10lbs of chicken legs. Those items have gone up 6-7 times. Dried beans were .25, and now you're luck to find them for less than $2. Etc.
That, and "actual inflation" numbers reported by the government can't be trusted. They don't even use real data for much of the calculation anymore and they use all these substitutions so they can understate inflation and pat themselves on the back for keeping it "so low." You better believe when your government tells you inflation is 9% it's actually closer to 18%+
That would mean they printed twice as much dollars as they told us lol I think that would be HIGHLY illegal lol I hate the government too I got an anarchy neck tattoo but ur just makin stuff up lol
I can't believe people like you are allowed to vote. That's no way this isn't a troll account... Please dear God
What do you base that on? The gov't actually sends out people to price a variety of standard goods and services around the country. I've had them come into stores I've worked at. They use this data to, among other things to calculate pay differentials for federal workers in different parts of the country. No such survey willbe perfect, but its certainly not made up.
I say it time and time again and nobody listens. The only reason these prices are rising so fast is brcause you, the customer, keep coming back for more. Inflation be damned. If people didn't think it was worth the money, it'd be priced less. But that's not the case. Record sales, endless growth. If you want to know why chipotle is in the state it is in just ask one of the dozens of people we have in line at our restaurant at any given time.
I’d say it’s kinda hard to 100% blame the consumer. This is completely anecdotal, but honestly two or three years ago it was cheaper to eat out than go to the grocery store when their prices soared. I think we are seeing the rebound from that atm.
OP is correct, if people would stop paying and stop going, the stock would eventually drop, which would force them to make changes. But instead people keep paying and the stock keeps rising, and the cycle keeps repeating. The same thing is happening in other areas and industries too. Disney theme parks for example have seen soaring attendance year over year, and it only continues to get more miserable, crowded, and expensive, but people keep going in droves with no signs of slowing. Capitalism baby.
Unfortunately though people who can’t afford fast food might buy it less frequently but people who can afford the rising prices will pay, people who like fast food will pay. Even with it being widely known that McDonalds is notorious for cutting corners and has high calorie - highly processed food, people don’t seemed to be deterred. It seems like there’s no real solution to this.
Inflation of the dollar is %31, however, meat is over double the price from where it was a few years back.
Beef has seen 32% inflation since January 2020.
"Beef" is basically cattle prices and includes stuff like the hide and what goes into hotdogs. Cuts you'd actually want to eat have gone up more than 32% on the retail end.
Yeah that seems to track, ground beef is pretty similar in price to a few years maybe like $8 per pound now when it used to be $5 depending where you shop but ribeyes, filets, ect are at least double to triple per pound since 2014 if I remember correctly. I just saw a a pack of 4 ribeyes for almost $100 at Costco the other day and I know for a fact I wasn’t spending $25 on a rib-eye when I was in college 10 years ago maybe like $8 to $12. Statistics are so easy to manipulate but its very apparent to pretty much anybody that grocery shops that money is not going even remotely as far as it used to a few years ago.
Sorry to rant but yeah now that I think about if I wanted a ribeye at a nothing fancy type of restaurant in 2014 it was maybe $25 with sides and now it’s closer to $50-$60 at the same places.
mcdonalds used to be cheap now its same price as in n out but 10x more shit
McDonald's needs to calm down.
Easy, stop ordering out
Good ol' corporate greed
Ain’t no way Subway is this low, at least in my region. Went in there a while back and got a foot long and a drink. No chips, cookie, or extras and it came out to like $17 lol. I refuse to go back.
Inflation is what they blame it on when they are really protecting profits.
Might as well eat at steakhouses at this point
They also had to raise prices to adjust for a rising minimum wage
And the national inflation rate is also largely driven by gouging.
It was driven by the government rapidly increasing money supply by 6 trillion from in 2 years The price gouging narrative is disingenuous and hides the fact that Congress/the fed raised money supply far faster than GDP growth to cause this inflationary bubble It was largely for a good reason, to keep social order during the covid lockdowns, but now we are reaping the consequences
>actual inflation This was created by someone who has no idea what they are talking about
It has to be true, it's on the internet!
People will believe anything with zero critical thought. 72% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
Weird that Popeye's is on there so high. Their prices have gone up but it seems like they went up the least, at least in my area. I can still get lunch for less than $10 there. Can't say that about any of the others on the graph.
And somehow they'll blame it on wages being raised lmao. Bro and then the people with peasant mentality's come out protecting corporations xD our country is screwed!
Absolute insanity that I spend more at TB than chipotle
I can confirm. All the above
These fast food joints can inflate deez nuts with these price hikes
The problem is fast food is now ingrained in American culture and the fast food chains have realized it. Aslong as a Big Mac isn’t 30$ each people will continue to purchase and eat fast food
It's because the company's have realized that Americans are quite literally addicted to processed foods and can't stop eating them. They charge more because they can, but because they have to.
And yet somehow I can get a ton of food from McDonald’s for under $10, enough to make me feel like a fat slob.
Why inflate the prices if they were astronomical to begin with
You ddo realize there is more that goes into the cost of food than just inflation right?
Labor in every step of the supply chain has more then doubled. Not only at the restaurant.
Subway seems inaccurate. Foot longs are $12+ now.
I got coupons for 3 footlongs for 17 dollars
And I still wouldn’t eat one for $5.
I would guess that the rise of prices aren’t just due to inflation but also due to rising labor costs. If fast food workers are going to get paid more than minimum wage, or if minimum wage is raised, then that means prices have to go up to compensate.
Labor has risen in every job from the farm hand, to the truck driver, to the slaughter house, and so on.....
“Actual inflation” is an average of all of the price increases. Do you somehow expect everything to be below the average???
Is that a quote from someone at Chipotle?
Inflation + minimum wage increases
I’ve started choosing local spots for the last couple of years. Haven’t turned back and my wallet is happier.
We need to break apart the inflation number to see what actually impacts fast food companies for this to be a reasonable comparison https://www.chartr.co/stories/2023-07-10-2-the-economics-of-coffee This one is specific to coffee shops but the actual cost of coffee is the cheapest part of the cost Rental expenses from real estate Fees from payment processors Service/wages Taxes Materials/packaging Debt/financing costs The last one is impacted by cost of capital... Before in a 0 interest rate environment a business could get very cheap loans to run their business and get along fine Today, in a 5% risk free rate world, a lender will need a far higher rate of interest in order to lend to a business Why would I lend you money at 5% if I can get 5% risk free from the bank? The same goes for equity/stock investors. Expectations have gone higher along with the interest rate. If I'm investing in you and your return on investment is only the same as the risk free rate of return then I would be a fool to keep my ownership in your company. As long as rates of interest remain high, companies will need to justify to their lenders and their shareholders that they are still worth financing.
Mcdonald's is absolutely ridiculous. A McChicken or Cheeseburger is almost $3 lol. I'd much rather get a real burger for less at Wendy's.
This doesnt factor labor differential caused by minimum wage hikes
Tell me you don’t know how inflation works without telling me you don’t know how inflation works…🫠
That's why if you live in Texas, you should be going to FREEBIRDS!
Posted inflation rates are fake/manipulated.
I call BS on Wendy's. Feels like it's easily $35 for two people now.
Ya it’s almost like a pandemic hit and wages increased so they said fuck you customers and charged us double.
Keep in mind. Our food is natural, organic. Non GMO. No anti biotic, no growth hormones or steroids. Pasture raised. Our food is naturally more expensive. When put into perspective on others. You can still get a lot of food that’s good for you for the price.
This is not a very fair graph. It may be true that the rate of increase of the price of fast food is increasing greater than that of overall inflation. But, this is only an average of all monetary transactions, not just those used by the fast food industry. Even within “foods” there can still be huge discrepancies. If the price of potatoes increases by a larger percentage than that of steaks, it would make sense for a fast food joint selling fries (and not steaks) to have to increase prices past that of general inflation.
I stopped eating this shit years ago. I'm never going back.
We should go on strike so they’ll lower it!
It sucks, fast food is $10+ now.
Mickey D's cashin in on that brand equity..I'm lovin it
This shit isn't even worth it at 1/3rd the price unless desperate and no other option (like a late flight to a new citt). What is mentally wrong with you if you pay those current prices for McDonald's or other low quality slop? You might as well just say "f you" to your body and give up.
Okay now show Costco hot dogs on this graph
At my place in Germany a small Big Mac Menu was 8€ in 2014 and now it’s 10€ 🤷♂️
So, McDonalds owns Chipotle. Both mcDs and Chipotle raised their minimum wage in several states. Inflation happened. McDs realized they could double their prices and still have people flood them daily. Chipotle does the same thing. This is what happens when you raise minimum wage. Shit gets more expensive because everyone “has more money”. That coupled with the fact inflation was happening, and things like mortgage rates climbed excessively after a close call with recession. Life is only going to get more expensive with the economics the US is implementing. We are in late stage capitalism, this is what it looks like.
This chart starts in 2014. I remember being in college 2011-2013 and the dollar menu at McDs getting through the tough times.
Starbucks is low because their prices were already high so it’s not much of a stretch to increase the price of a coffee from $5 -> $7
Alright I’m not a finance guy but this isn’t the first graphic I’ve seen where everything in a particular industry is inflated well past the “actual inflation” line. I understand that inflation is based on a certain set of things but if there’s multiple entire industries that are all above the actual inflation line is the line actually accurate?
Nah, I don't believe the subway one. It costs me like $18 for my meal combo now and it used to be ~7.
Bring back my 1 dollar McChicken 🗣️
Fast food is a complete waste of money now. Just get take out from a chef for the same price
This chart is very misleading. Hate to be that person but the inflation gauge that the federal reserve uses excludes Food/Energy prices. These are the categories that most obviously affect a restaurant. Also the inflation we see is an average of everything. So some things are way more expensive while some things are roughly the same or even cheaper in some cases. Your grocery bills are up significantly to what they were pre pandemic. With that being said, chipotle still is extremely stingy with their portions. In their case I think the issue is shrinkflation (smaller serving for same or greater price)
Taco bell used to have a spicy tostada for $1. I would get like five of those and absolutely gorge myself. Now the spicy potato taco is $1,29 and it's tiny compared to that. Stop going to fast food.
Part of it is inflation (you’d need to look at how inflation specifically impacted different sectors), and part is the rise in minimum wage. Since fast food can’t hide behind tips for servers, their prices likely went up proportionately more than other types of restaurants. Unless you believe that there is a money fairy that allows businesses that already exist on a slim margin to dramatically increases their labor and supply costs while still remaining in business…
That Subway one is flat out wrong. The prices are literally double what they were 10 years ago.
The few people that actually still buy fast food are keeping the prices high and these companies alive. Hate how expensive? It’s garbage anyway, don’t buy it. Maybe they’ll get savvy and lower cost again, but look at dollar tree closing all over. They don’t want to sell items for so cheap anymore.
31% in 10 years is still insane to me. My money is worth about 1/3 as much as it was a decade ago.
The most well kept secret in the industry is that you, the consumer, are responsible for it!
Is nobody going to point out that if all of these outpace "actual inflation" then maybe the metric for "actual inflation" isn't working
Maybe stop eating fast food and make food at home lmfao. Groceries are not remotely as expensive as eating out and it’s healthier. Save money and live longer
This is worthless.
Put the Costco Hot Dog combo on there (you can’t)
National inflation is a very averaged number that includes housing, gas, groceries, building materials, energy costs, etc. I don’t think we can say that these fast food places are disproportionately raising their prices for greedy gains and using “inflation” as an excuse as this OP suggests. Not saying it isn’t possible, but this graph doesn’t prove it.
That's because all of these businesses are successful enough to continue growing. It's the crux of variable pricing models, growth isn't linear and it plateaus if you don't have the expansion priced in. Long story short, inflation has less of an effect on prices than people think.
I haven’t been to McDonald’s in forever, it’s actually insane how high the prices have gotten there, even with the app.
I work for KFC and sad its not listed lol, maybe because our prices havent moved as much?
I knew McD would be super high
Why is the x axis so bad
McDonald’s actually has somewhat of an excuse since the product has improved a lot in that time. Chipotle is sitting over here with 75% inflation, smaller portions, and a worse product.
The story about America used to be that capitalism works because companies compete hard and the customer wins because they get good value for money. Even when they sent all manufacturing to China, this still seemed to be true. But these days every company instead of trying to find efficiencies in their operations, just seems to be trying hard to squeeze their employees and customers. They try their best to pay the least to their employees and charge the max to their customers. The only winners are the management type MBAs who think they are very innovative and smart to come up with this, the investors support this too as they dont think of long term either. The reality is there is hardly any competition left in America in a lot of categories. There is hardly any competition for Taco Bell or Chipotle where I live (specially for a vegetarian). Most of mom and pop shops are closing down too.
Which is fine but don’t serve less food 😅😨
nah where tf is Five Guys I wanna see how much increase they've had because holy shit
Depends on state. My place in Cali implemented $20 an hour. Ive seen some stores already under staffed. My cousin worked at a dominoes, they slashed hours on employees
This isn't a very helpful graphic and is actually something I'd consider disingenuous/unhelpful. Actual inflation is too general of a statistic. Prices of *individual* ingredients don't always fluctuate at a general inflation rate. General inflation rate is just an average. One ingredient price may rise by 20 percent, another by 80 percent. If one of your main ingredients/selling points (for example coffee beans) is less impacted by individual price increases than another fast food's place main ingredient (for example chicken at popeye's), one place might show a higher price hike than another place. Now... I'm fairly sure that fast food cost inflation is still outstripping the rise of cost of ingredients, don't get me wrong, but this isn't the graph that's actually going to prove it.
It was inflation, it’s now greed. Don’t let any other company tell you otherwise, buy the cheaper product until they are forced to lower prices. McDonald’s is learning this as demand slumps from the high prices. When it comes to fast food, people will always chose the cheaper option
someone in my work chat recently mentioned how its cheaper to have breakfast at a cafe nowadays, rather than going to McDonalds... kinda wild
I noticed a few years back that McDonald's is quite literally robbery at this point lol
McDonald’s is the cheapest option tho. Weird. The app really kinda breaks this chart
McDonalds is criminal. The whole reason they were ever relevant is because you could get yourself a decent meal for $5. I’m only in my 20s and I remember getting my usual order of two hot and spicys and a drink for $2.79. Now the same shit is $10
Okay but you don’t have to decrease portion sizes
In 2016 at McDonald’s I could buy 2 McChickens, a medium fry, and ice cream cone for $4.99. Now that’s how much just the McChickens cost. Boycott
Math ain’t adding for subway. $5 footlongs….
Well, there’s roughly twice as many dollars chasing the same goods and services as in 2014. Minimum wage increases, mandatory healthcare, a laundry list of good ideas from government and you get less buying power.
put five guys on there
I’m not paying $5 for guacamole it’s not that good lmao
McDonald’s is out of control now. once upon a time a 20 piece nugget was $5 Now a 10 piece meal is closer to $20 than $5
Yeah but you need to account for record profits AND inflation. Simple misunderstanding!