Inflation has hit everything from eggs to diapers to rent, but one thing that Americans are still struggling with is the increase in prices at the drive-through.
Just like everything else, the price of fast food has seen massive increases throughout the country in the last few years, and one McDonald’s in Orlando, Florida, has customers amazed at how much they are paying for what they are getting.
“It’s definitely out of control. I just had breakfast (at McDonald’s). An orange juice, sausage, egg and cheese, and hash brown, it was $13.50 – and that’s a lot of money,” customer Robert Desidero shared with Fox 35 after his most recent trip to McDonald’s.
In the last year, prices at fast food restaurants have continued to rise, increasing more than 5% from December 2022 to December 2023, while at-home food rose only 1.3%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index.
Now, the Orlando-area McDonald’s isn’t the only fast food restaurant seeing prices spike, as a Connecticut McDonald’s was bashed online last month after its $7 Egg McMuffin and $18 Big Mac combo meals went viral online.
McDonald’s has clarified that its pricing varies depending on location, as the decision is left up to the franchisees, but that it does try to find a balance.
Some fast food companies, like Taco Bell, have seen the opportunity to seize the hole left where McDonald’s dollar menu used to thrive. The taco restaurant has recently launched several new value items for $3 or less, sharing with NBC News that it “remains dedicated to offering our fans delicious food at affordable prices.”
But for some restaurants, lower prices are not sustainable right now, according to Steve Reed, an economist with the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“One thing we’ve seen during the pandemic, we had high inflation and high food inflation, the highest in decades. If you think of what typically drives this kind of price change, food away from home, it’s very often wages, labor costs, and those have gone up and contributed to some of the increases we see,” Reed shared with Fox 35.
Sadly, the rise in prices at the drive-through doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon. Mcdonald’s chief executive Chris Kempczinski shared in February on an earnings call with Wall Street analysts that lower income earners have stopped ordering from the restaurant, another sign that prices are higher, the New York Post reported.
“Eating at home has become more affordable,” Kempczinski shared. “The battleground is certainly with that low-income consumer.”
While executives may be hoping to appeal to that demographic again, consumers don’t seem so convinced.
“The Dollar Menu, I don’t think it exists anymore, to tell you the truth,” Desidero shared with Fox 35. “I think them days are over with dollar menus and stuff, but for the most part, it’s expensive to eat.”