Recently Wendy’s thought about the idea of “surge pricing” with a sandwich being more expensive during hours of high influx of customers and then dropping in place when there is a lower influx of customers.
A typical Baconator burger at Wendy’s costs $7.39 but could increase by a dollar or 0.50 cents during the lunch or dinner rush.
Wendy’s walked back on this idea after backlash from many consumers who voiced their opinions on X, TikTok and other forms of social media with many boycotting Wendy’s over the failed decision alone.
Wendy’s sent out a statement regarding the surge pricing decision, “To clarify, Wendy’s will not implement surge pricing, which is the practice of raising prices when demand is highest. We didn’t use that phrase, nor do we plan to implement that practice.”
Despite Wendy’s walking back on this decision most fast-food restaurants have increased their prices since 2020.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index from December 2022 and December 2023 fast food costs have increased by 5.2%. Fast food prices have increased since 2020 with the food companies pointing to some economic factors like inflation, covid-19, labor costs and the supply chain.
“I have Chick-fil-a for my break time to time, so I hardly notice the food prices being more. I try not to eat out as much so I can try and save money when I can.” -McKenna Guinn, manager at a Chick-fil-a at the Woodstock Outlet Mall
McDonald’s have raised their prices by 10% in 2022 and raised them again by 10% in 2023 with plans on increasing them again in 2024 due to inflation and rising labor costs.
Other fast-food places have also raised their prices like Chipotle, Pizza Hut and Starbucks with Chipotle raising its prices five times since June of 2021.
An economist created the Big Mac Index in 1986 as a lighthearted guide but now is used to see whether countries are on the right level when it comes to purchasing power priority.
In 2020 the price of Big Mac was $4.95, in 2022 costed $5.93 and in 2024 it costs $5.69 with plans for McDonalds to return more items on the value menu. They also look to lower prices after customers are upset over the rise prices especially as a Big Mac meal could cost up to $18.
