Having priced themselves beyond the reach of many consumers, fast-food chains are now hoping to dazzle consumers with value meals.
Days after McDonald’s — struggling to keep its customers — said it would have a limited $5 value meal promotion that would kick off in late June at select outlets, Burger King announced it would duel with its rival by speeding up its own value-purchase plans, according to Fox Business.
“Burger King is accelerating its value offers after three quarters of leading the industry in value traffic. We are bringing back our $5 Your Way Meal as agreed upon with our franchisees back in April,” the chain said in a statement, according to USA Today.
“78% of consumers now consider fast food to be a ‘luxury’ purchase due to how expensive the meals have become.”
It’s a Bidenomics miracle.https://t.co/mHgkYy8TqK
— Peter St Onge, Ph.D. (@profstonge) May 25, 2024
The $5 Your Way Meal allows customers to choose from among three sandwiches in addition to chicken nuggets, fries and a drink.
“Regardless of [McDonald’s] plans, we are moving full speed ahead with our own plans to launch our own $5 value meal before they do − and run it for several months,” an internal memo from President Tom Curtis said, according to a report Thursday in Bloomberg.
Burger King has since confirmed the memo is accurate, USA Today reported.
Neither Bloomberg nor USA Today provided a start date for the Burger King promotion, but Bloomberg reported the deal will be available before the planned June 25 start date for the McDonald’s $5 promotion and last for several months.
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Wendy’s has its sights on the breakfast market with its $3 combo meal, which includes an egg sandwich and potatoes.
Luring consumers has become necessary after price hikes sent inflation-battered buyers seeking other options.
A non-scientific survey by Lending Tree found that 78 percent of the 2,000 people responding said they regard fast food as a “luxury.” The survey said 62 percent of those responding said they are cutting back on fast food purchases.
In a commentary piece, Thursday, Dan O’Donnell, a talk-show host and columnist at the conservative MacIver Institute in Madison, Wisconsin, wrote that prices on items such as Big Macs have risen more than 200 percent in less than five years.
“This is not, as the White House has repeatedly insisted, the result of price gouging, but rather the shockingly high cost of wages and food production for restaurants like McDonald’s and Taco Bell,” he wrote.
O’Donnell noted that low-income fast-food customers are hit particularly hard by the increases, which come on topof hikes in the costs of other food, energy and rent.
Fast food price increases since Joe Biden came into office. It isn’t your imagination, fast food is insanely more expensive than it used to be. This is Bidenomics. pic.twitter.com/m2ZFDOAgX4
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) May 21, 2024
“All told, the average American family is paying $1,069 more per month for the same goods and services it was just three years ago. That’s $246.69 every week or $35.24 every single day, and it represents the most insidious form of taxation in existence because of how regressive it is,” he wrote.
After noting that few Americans believe they can afford to retire, O’Donnell added, “Really, though, how could they even be thinking that far in advance when affording dinner for their kids has become such an ordeal?”
“When even fast food is slipping out of reach, it’s clear that America’s inflation problem is now a full-blown crisis,” he wrote.
