Would you like some fries with that? Probably not, as the price of fast food increases with rising inflation – صحيفة الصوت

One Whangārei mother says it’s becoming increasingly harder to take her three kids out for a “treat” as the price of fast food rises.

Katie Halpin said she has noticed fast food prices increasing a lot recently, and a few of her favourites had gone up a minimum of $1.

“McDonald’s, Subway and just recently Burger King… even on their app, it’s still a saving, but it’s gone up in price,” she said.

“Since I first got Subway it’s gone up $5. My usual chicken teriyaki sub used to be $10, it’s now $15.”

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Halpin said the price of McDonald’s had gone up “heaps”.

At her local McDonald’s a cheeseburger alone was $4.50, and on the chain’s app it was now two for $6, but it used to be two for $5.

She said it made it harder to take her three kids out for a treat, because it would come to about $40 just for her and the kids.

McDonald’s has more than 36,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries, and in the UK, the BBC reported last week that McDonald’s had put up the price of cheeseburgers for the first time in more than 14 years, due to growing cost pressures.

In an email to customers, McDonald’s UK and Ireland chief executive Alistair Macrow said the company faced “tough choices” about its prices and had delayed making the changes for as long as it could, the BBC said.

But a McDonald’s NZ spokesperson said it was not the case here, because New Zealand outlets have not had a set national price for years – which meant the price of a cheeseburger varied from store to store.

“McDonald’s New Zealand reviews pricing periodically and factors in a range of variables. Any price changes taken can vary between restaurants depending on local trading dynamics.”

Data from Dot Loves Data showed the average fast food transaction was 8.5% higher this July than last, with total spend and number of transactions down. Spokesperson Justin Lester said that was a strong indicator of price rises.

Food prices were 6.6% higher in June 2022 compared with June 2021, while restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food prices increased by 6.3%, according to Stats NZ.

In the June 2022 quarter prices for ready-to-eat food, which includes takeaways, increased by 2.9% when compared to the March 2022 quarter. In comparison, the overall CPI increased by 1.7% in the same period.

In the June 2022 quarter prices for ready-to-eat food, which includes takeaways, increased by 4.4% when compared to the December 2021 quarter. In comparison, the overall CPI increased by 3.5% in the same period.

Fast-food company Restaurant Brands, which operates KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Carl’s Jr chains, was also feeling the pinch.

The company did not respond when approached for comment, but in a statement to the NZX last Wednesday, it warned that it was “experiencing significant cost inflation” and its profit for the first half of the financial year, covering the six months to June 30, would fall.

Restaurant Brands said it expected to report first-half net profit of $14 million to $16m, which was down from last year’s $34.5m, which included one-off income of $11.4m.