McDonald’s has just increased the price of its 99p cheeseburger by a fifth, taking it up to £1.19 – and people aren’t happy about it.
While the increase of 20p doesn’t sound huge, it does actually take the “signature” item above the crucial £1 benchmark.
And with a jump of 20%, the chain has leapt ahead of the current inflation rate of 9.4% through its first price hike in 14 years.
Like many other businesses, it has blamed the rise in the price on costs – and claims more jumps may yet come.
Alistair Macrow, the chief executive of McDonald’s UK and Ireland, said the restaurants still aimed to sell food at affordable prices, but the cost of living crisis meant it had to “make some tough choices”.
Macrow also noted: “This summer our restaurants will be adding between 10p and 20p to a number of menu items impacted most by inflation.”
He added: “We understand that any price increases are not good news, but we have delayed and minimised these changes for as long as we could.”
Not all menu prices will be affected, and not all restaurants would see the same price rise if they are owned by a franchise.
With essentials such as milk, butter, eggs and chicken all climbing in cost, McDonald’s is far from the only business passing on the price.
Pret a Manger increased its coffee subscription by 25%, Nando’s and KFC passed the growing price for poultry onto its consumers. Unilever, owner of brands such as Marmite, increased prices by 11.2%, too.
Still, this was the straw that broke the camel’s back for some avid McDonald’s fans on Twitter.
One account was quick to compare it to the beloved chocolate bar, Freddo, which cost just 10p in 2000, and now comes in at 30p or above, depending on the retailer.
