The CEO of McDonald’s is promising to address high prices that have put customers in a McFrenzy.
“I think what you’re going to see as you head into 2024 is probably more attention to what I would describe as affordability,” CEO Chris Kempczinski said on a Monday earnings call, according to the New York Post.
His comments came after global same-store sales failed to hit projections.
“There will be some activity at the local level to make sure we continue to provide value for the lower-income consumer,” Kempczinski said without offering details, according to ABC News.
The CEO said consumers making less than $45,000 a year have turned away from McDonald’s.
“We actually saw that cohort … decrease in the most recent quarter,” he said on the call, according to CNN.
“Eating at home has become more affordable,” Kempczinski added. “The battleground is certainly with that low-income consumer.”
I recently took the kids to McDonald’s. I hadn’t been there in a while myself.
Whoa. When did the prices get so high? Four Happy Meals were more than an XL pizza, which feeds our whole family. The food was dry, fries were stale, and the kids didn’t finish. Won’t do that again.
— WWUTT? (@WWUTTguy) February 7, 2024
Kempczinski seems to have changed his tune after indicating in October that price increases of up to 10 percent were not an issue.
“Even though we’re pushing through pricing, the consumer is tolerating it well,” he said then.
Has McDonald’s gotten too expensive?
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Restaurant analyst Mark Kalinowski told the Post that price increases in the range of 2 to 3 percent are likely, and that targeted deals through the McDonald’s app will be the best way for customers to get a break.
Last summer, the New York Post highlighted some sky-high prices at a Darien, Connecticut, McDonald’s, where it cost $17.59 for a Big Mac combo meal and $19 for a Quarter Pounder Deluxe.
This was at a rest stop, but these McDonald’s prices are nuts right??? pic.twitter.com/0qq8Ima3ZA
— Sam Learner (@sam_learner) July 18, 2023
Operators said the costs of insurance, equipment and labor are to blame, according to another report from the Post. The outlet also noted that in April, California fast food workers will be making $20 an hour.
A Post editorial offered another culprit: “Thanks to Bidenomics, low-income folks are ditching not-so-Happy Meals as dining at McDonald’s is out of their price range. … And there’s only so much McDonald’s c-suite can do.”
“Inflation and other progressive policies are a perfect storm for higher costs,” the editorial noted, citing minimum wage increases in New York, Vermont and Massachusetts as well as California.
“When a night out at McDonald’s is now a luxury for many Americans, its obvious why President Biden is getting slammed in polls over his handling of the economy. Voters are learning that when a Democrat is in charge, your McDouble will cost double.”
