For decades they sold basically real food at cheaper than usual prices...
Then by the early 90s, they began to hollow it all out where you could keep a cheeseburger on a shelf for months and it wouldn't look much different. Then they started removing the amount of actual beef used. And most of the chicken is just like a paste that they form into nuggets or patties.
By 2000s, it was so cheap for them to produce "burgers" that they were able to have sales where you could get a regular cheeseburger for like 30 cents. The dollar menu all looked like it did a decade earlier, it's just that all of these ingredients were replaced to save on cost.
By 2005 or so, the cost began increasing and far outpaced any gain in income.
This happened for a while where today they want to sell you a combo meal for something like $15 in some places, and most of that food is basically just look like food and not even the real thing, despite being priced against places that just take bread, beef and cheese and cook it like you're supposed to.
The whole thing is a scam and McDonald's is a terrible company.
Maybe have the President work the fryer again and see if it boosts sales?
All chicken nuggets are made with paste. How else are you going to have a formable piece of chicken?
Yes, the paste is made of less desirable parts of a chicken with more connective tissue. But that doesn't make it not chicken. People eat beef tendon too.
The biggest problem McDonald's has been facing is inflation. McDonald's whole business model was predicated on reasonably good food that was delivered fast and cheap. Now the cheap part is off the table, and for a couple of bucks more you can get much better food. To make matters worse, McDonald's import a lot of their beef, and those costs have been affected by the tariffs. That's the vice McDonald's is in.
I feel like this is 100% it. We used to go to McDonald's pretty often as a cheap but tasty treat. Being able to grab a few burgers, orders of fries etc. to feed a whole family for significantly less than it would cost to go out to eat at a "real" restaurant.
Now it's go out and pay $15 per person at McDonald's for crappy, inconsistent food that doesn't even taste that good anymore and eat it in a dirty McDonald's location with crazy homeless people making a scene not 10 feet away from you. Or you pay $17-18 per person to go get a big, juicy, well-made burger from a proper bar and grill with clean seating and family atmosphere. It just makes absolutely no sense to go to McDonald's unless you're on a road trip at weird hours of the night where nothing else within miles of you is open. Taco Bell, KFC and others have had similar problems for us.
We've gone from eating fast food two or three times a month to eating it maybe once or twice a year after the pandemic.
McDonald's doesn't cost $15 per head.
Right now when I open the app:
- One of the 'app exclusive deals' is 35% off an order over $12
- A Big Mac meal (burger, fries, drink) is $12.97 before that discount
- A double cheeseburger (no fries or drink) is $3.99
I don't order from the app, didn't know there were discount there. I probably won't use the app anyways, I think it's ridiculous having to install an app for every fast food place just to get better prices, I'd rather just not go anymore than do that.
And is the meal before/after tax? I distinctly remember last time I was there a few months ago being shocked that the price came out to about $15 per person all getting meals.
You're right, but for someone like me who hate feel hunger just 2 hours after a big mac meal, I must take 2 or 3 simple cheeseburgers + the big mac meal to feel ok until diner. It costs me more than $15. I don't go there anymore by myself unless there is no other options left.
What you are describing is like 1500-2000 calories even if you get a diet soda. At least you'll have to agree that it isn't typical for a person to eat this much in a single meal at mcdonalds.
I don't think that inflation is at stake here but more probably greed and corporate inefficiency.
Inflation should impact most fast foods or restaurant in a relative same way.
But McDo used to be the cheapest option to eat, now it is often more expensive than going to a lot of other places or chains.
Isn't inflation going to hit their competitors, too? You gotta eat somewhere.
Inflation has turned me away from eating out; I can't keep up with the relentless and steep price increases while my income hasn't grown much at all in the same time period. Having to pay over $10 for a low-quality combo meal sucks. I only eat out these days in situations when cooking and/or bringing meals with me are not an option, such as when I'm out of town on vacation or business, or when eating out is part of a social event.
> You gotta eat somewhere.
You can eat at home. This seems more like a sign of the loss of purchasing power among the working poor.
> You can eat at home.
Oftentimes, that's not true for lunch. I thought that was a huge part of McDonald's business: people grabbing a quick and cheap bite to eat for lunch. Followed by soccer moms grabbing a quick dinner or snack for the kids via the drive-thru on the way to practice. Yes, I know you can get better food for just a little bit more, but it's still more money and oftentimes a drive-thru isn't available.
Or maybe these core customers are still going to McDonald's but it's the folks outside of these groups that have fallen off? If you don't need the drive-thru and you have a little more money to spend then you have a lot of options.
> Oftentimes, that's not true for lunch.
Packing leftovers or a sandwich is a thing. It's not convenient, or perhaps as tasty. Might be healthier though.
> It's not convenient
What is more convenient than placing some delicious tuna or egg and a bit of heese between two slices of bread? Surely not driving to McDonalds.
people have always been able to eat at home yet they didn't. Inflation his everybody, not just them or their competitors.
> people have always been able to eat at home yet they didn't.
Sure they did, but they just ate out more frequently before.
> Inflation his everybody, not just them or their competitors.
The primary mechanism is their customers' loss of disposable/discretionary income.
To add to that, due to class reasons, people who previously ate out at higher end fast food are not going to downshift to McDonalds because of class and perceived low quality at McDonalds.
They will probably eat at home more, which allows them to stay in their current class association.
Inflation hits us all, but we all do not have to eat highly-processed, chemically -preserved, over-priced fast food. It's still as easy as ever to make a sandwich or a salad and pack it for lunch.
my wife is the competitor and while inflation is hitting her too she can make bigmac for a buck :)
Your wife runs a restaurant?
In our house :)
The high prices go even higher when you take delivery app fees and markups into account. People will see the prices in the app and think that's the McD-set price.
I'm ashamed to live among a populace that includes people who pay extra to have McDonalds brought to them by a serf with a smartphone.
Them and BK's beef comes from South America, where farmers, burn the rain forest down for grazing land and soybean production to feed cattle
Have you seen South America size? There's no need to burn rain forest to raise cattle, this is fake news. South America is the only continent that still has >50% native untouched land and the cleanest power grid.
> There's no need to burn rain forest to raise cattle
There might not be a need, but it's undeniable that they are doing it.
Thank God the Germans and Belgians preserved all their rainforest.
Surprised that no-one has already mentioned the impact of the BDS movement.
This is from January this year: “McDonald's has missed a key sales target, partly due to customers boycotting the firm for its perceived support of Israel. The fast food chain reported its first quarterly sales miss in nearly four years due to weak growth in its international business division.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68209085
These global corporations probably arrogantly ignored the impact of young people especially ceasing and boycotting any future support. Sure maybe this isn’t you and your friends, but whole families and friendship groups across most counties have hard stopped visiting McDonalds regardless of the time of day or the latest burger specials. FAFO.
It may not be obvious to those inside the US, but the rest of the world aren’t feeling any motivation to get behind all American brands right now.
I think this talk of a boycott is ignoring the "new" appointment of a CEO in 2019 which has been posting impressive year on year profit % increase, I think this growth ie catching up to them rather than talk of boycott
I wonder if quality plays a part.
Anecdote time:
I'm not a fan of McDonald's food, but one thing I once could count on from McDonald's was pretty much the same quality store to store. And as far as fast food went the employees seemed happy an motivated (as much as they can at a fast food place and noticeably more than other fast food places). That's not the case anymore.
Quality store to store and even the same store at different times now varies wildly in my experience and near me there are several "bad stores" where it's pretty clear nobody (employees) is happy and straight up not trying.
Not passing judgment on employees here (it's up to the company to do their thing to keep quality up), but either way McDnonald's to me just isn't reliable.
Even in the 1990s my parents noticed this at fast food chains in the Sacramento area where I grew up. Locations with more engaged staff served better food, while locations with less engaged staff served worse food that was often sloppily prepared.
I also notice a big difference whenever I travel to Japan and visit McDonald's locations there. The food tastes better and the presentation is excellent. It also helps that McDonald's is cheaper in Japan than in California.
The last time I took my kids to McDonald's was a few years ago. They rarely eat junk food but they wanted a little toy that was being handed out. They couldn't finish their burgers and I couldn't eat their leftovers (and I hate seeing food go to waste). They never asked to go again.
I occasionally stop at one for a coffee, and most times something goes wrong with my order. It's fascinating how such a crappy firm can still survive.
This is the biggest reason why I avoid them like the plague. 95% of the time they will mess up some part of my order. When I do break down and buy McDonald’s for my kids I always double check the whole order before I leave the parking lot.
McDonalds prices are shocking if you haven't been in a while.
Somehow it seems like the food tastes worse than it used to on top of it. These days I wouldn't normally choose to eat at a McDonalds but sometimes that's the option I have and it always leaves me feeling disappointed, especially given what I paid.
The McDonalds price increases definitely seemed to far outpace the CPI. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/charted-mcdonalds-price-inf... https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm
They switched from having grills and some sort of food preparation to pulling stuff from plastic drawers the cooks don’t anymore cook anything they just pull in the food into reheat oven stale cold food goes in stale hot food comes out. It lost all the taste, you can go to Burger King and get a taste of the grilled patties
Burger King has a surprisingly large selection of plant based versions of everything here (Central Europe), McD's offering is pretty lacklustre in comparison. I don't eat meat anymore, so I always pick a BK over McD for that alone.
Big Mac being tracked as a economic indicator. McD's should watch it, because the price is outpacing wages by a lot.
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4119246-the-big-mac-index-m...
Ozempic
Maybe they should try advertising in a manner other than "burgers?". Perhaps ask the Japanese branch for some pointers.