McDonald’s has quietly hiked the price of a Big Mac by nearly £1 and has also made chicken nuggets, burgers, fries, and milkshakes more costly.
Last year the fast food giant declared it could no longer shield customers from the soaring costs caused by rising inflation hitting the cost of produce, energy, fuel and wages.
Yet in April McDonald’s announced sales in the first quarter were boosted by four per cent to $5.9 billion (£4.57 billion), compared to this time last year.
Now the fast food store has bumped up prices across its menu in the United Kingdom without announcing it to customers.
This time last year the company said it was increasing the price of a cheeseburger for the first time in 14 years from 99p to £1.19.
Although a cheeseburger still costs £1.19 in June, this month the price has bounced to £1.29, while a Big Mac is £4.59, up from £3.69, and fan favourite 20 Chicken McNuggets is at £5.79, up from £4.99.
Milkshakes have been raised by 50p from £1.29 to £1.79, an increase of nearly 40 per cent.
Even vegan dishes have been hit by the hike, with the Vegetable Deluxe rising from £3.59 to £4.19 and the McPlant jumping from £3.69 to £4.29.
It comes as it was revealed the Consumer Prices Index rate was running at 7.9 per cent in June, falling from 8.7 per cent the previous month and significantly below expectations.
Crucially the core measure of prices, excluding more volatile elements such as fuel, also declined.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt hailed CPI as being at its lowest level for 15 months in the official figures but also warned the fight to suppress prices had not yet been won.
He said that they weren’t complacent and knew that high prices were still a huge worry for families and businesses and that the best way they could ease this pressure and get the economy growing again was by sticking to the plan to halve inflation this year.
Rishi Sunak said he was sticking to the plan of trying to halve inflation to around 5 per cent by the end of the year.
The fast-food colossus has been slammed with allegations of sexual wrongdoing this week after young female staff at McDonald’s declared they were groped, given nicknames like ‘McBike’, and were rated on their appearance at work on scoreboards.
Alistair Macrow, McDonald’s boss in the United Kingdom, issued an apology after the BBC discovered that more than 100 existing and former staff at the fast food chain alleged they’d been harassed.
From now on the staff will ask, ‘Do you want fries with that?’ And they’ll be saying no because they just can’t afford them.
I must admit McDonald’s has done well at attempting to keep their prices down, but of course, everything has gone up, the price of food, utilities, fuel, rents, rates, probably uniforms and wages. They all add up, and McDonald’s isn’t a charity, they’re a business and they have to make money, condemn the Government, not McDonald’s.
The short and tall of it is, if people can’t afford to eat out anymore, then eat at home. Soon, there will be no McDonald’s, Burger King et cetera. In fact, there won’t be much of anything beyond your front door, it will all be gone, but of course, that’s what the Government want so that they can keep an eye on you and control your every move.
Also, have you noticed, McDonald’s burgers have become smaller? I can remember a Big Mac back in the 1970s being much bigger, like double the size. In fact, I used to have trouble eating them because when you bit into them the sauce would seep out the sides and normally I would wear it instead of eating it. Now, two bites and it’s gone!
Of course, we’re all acquainted with our favourite chocolate bars, crisps and household essentials falling prey to shrinkflation. A sly method in which brands quietly push through price hikes by reducing the size of their packaging, therefore giving customers less bang for their money.
And now hungry McDonald’s customers are now questioning whether the food chain has shrunk its burgers, but McDonald’s denied these claims.
McDonald’s burgers look more like a kid-size portion, rather than an adult size. If it’s kid-size then we should pay for a kid’s portions, not adult portions. So, not only have they become smaller, but they’ve become more costly as well!
It’s not the first time McDonald’s has been accused of shrinkflation. In 2020, one Reddit user compared their cheeseburger to the size of a cookie, with numerous commenters flocking to the comments in agreement.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 