McDonald's prices are rising

Ernie

McDonald’s has announced that its prices have risen. Again. The prices of several popular items including the ‘Mayo Chicken’, ‘Bacon Double Cheeseburger’, and medium carbonated drinks have increased by 20%. This follows on from July 2022 when the price of a cheeseburger rose, for the first time in 14 years, from 99p to £1.19. A McDonald’s spokesperson has said that the company is committed to offering ‘great tasting food at affordable prices’ and that prices have had to rise due to increasing food and energy costs. This is an example of cost-push inflation which is when firms increase prices due to rising costs of production. Despite hiking up prices, McDonald’s has started to trial meal deals called ‘saver meals’ in 120 restaurants in the South East of England which, if successful are likely to be rolled out to the whole country.

How will this price rise affect the UK?

Lower-income households across the UK who regularly consume McDonald’s are likely to be hit hard as spending on fast food takes up a relatively large proportion of their income. These households, especially in deprived areas, are much more likely to consume fast food than those in wealthier areas as they may struggle to afford ingredients to cook fresh meals. Also they may lack knowledge about the negative health effects caused by too much fast food and they are more exposed to fast food outlets such as McDonald’s as there is a higher concentration of them in England’s most deprived communities according to Public Health England.

Despite disproportionately affecting lower socio-economic groups, public health may start to improve over time if the consumption of fastfood decreases because it typically contains high levels of salt, saturated fat, and calories, all of which can cause health problems such as obesity if consumed too often and in large quantities. This is especially important in children as 23.4% of year 6 children were recorded as obese in 2021/22 with this figure being higher amongst children from the most deprived parts of the country. Despite this, for many, fast food is still cheap, easy to access, and a habit-forming food, so higher prices may, unfortunately, have little effect in shifting consumer spending patterns from unhealthy products to healthy ones.