Kevin Roberts remembers when he could get a bacon cheeseburger, fries and a drink from Five Guys for $10. But that was years ago. When the Virginia high school teacher recently visited the fast-food chain, the food alone without a beverage cost double that amount.
Roberts, 38, now only gets fast food “as a rare treat,” he told CBS MoneyWatch. “Nothing has made me cook at home more than fast-food prices.”
Roberts is hardly alone. Many consumers are expressing frustration at the surge in fast-food prices, which are starting to scare off budget-conscious customers.
A January poll by consulting firm Revenue Management Solutions found that about 25% of people who make under $50,000 were cutting back on fast food, pointing to cost as a concern.
I probably am gonna get a lot of hate for this. Isn’t that a good thing? Afterall processed food is the leading cause of most diseases today, most notably cancer. It’s about time organic food is promoted heavily and incorporated in the policy making.
It would be a good thing, but there are a few problems.
Fast food has always been of soggy cardboard quality so when prices increase it kind of feels unjustified.
Fast food workers are also being paid dick compared to how difficult their job is.
And then it’s the fact that not only a fast food prices getting more expensive, it’s all foods. There is no cheap alternative anymore only expensive food you have to cook yourself or expensive food being delivered to you.
Bottom line, I guess, It’s good we’re getting people off of fast food, but this isn’t the way to do it.
The reason for the hate is… You offer no alternative.
I’m coeliac, I don’t get to eat outside at fast food places. But people got to eat and they might need something quick on the go… What’s your alternative? What cheap healthy meal do you offer?
I don’t get to have stuff, I can’t even buy a sandwich from a shop if I wanted to. But I can see how people rely on it.
Celiac disease kinda runs in my family. I am gluten intolerant myself. I’m aware of the struggle. All I’m saying is we need a paradigm shift as far as food is concerned. If there are no alternatives, create one for yourself. It’s about time we take control of food and where it comes from. Not everything that’s convenient is healthy for the long run.
In isolation, maybe a good thing. Problem is that it’s a bit of a sign of a broader trend of crazy expensive dining out.
The stuff a fast food customer is likely to eat at home is likely even worse than the fast food. Also, groceries are also pretty expensive, though not quite as bonkers as restaurant pricing.
I can’t fathom what I have at home that’s worse for me than a 1200 calorie value meal.
I’d really have to go out of my way to make something that calorie dense and still edible.
Your 1200 calorie figure is about right for a “combo” with large drink and fries and a quarter pounder at McD.
That’s about the same as half a fairly modest frozen pizza and a soda. Which would be a plausible “cooking at home” solution that I’ve seen people do, and that’s assuming they stop at half the pizza. Similar story for a lot of frozen “air fryer” fare, they pour from the bag until they have “about a bowl’s worth” and that’s usually about the same calories as the food part of the fast food. They read the “nutrition facts” and see “200 calories” and miss the part where there’s “20 servings a bag” and eat what the packager counted as 6 servings.
Also, that’s only the calorie counting, a TV dinner will have even more added sugars and sodium than the fast food meal.
I see it as good too (took the kids (2) to burger king, I just took a burger + their menus, 44€ … WTF), but the downside is (where I live) ordinary food prices are also skyrocketing.
Bk is still my go to for lunch when I work in the office. 2 whopper jrs or 2 double cheeseburgers is like 6 bucks. The combo meals are definitely ridiculous though.
So, a rare treat, then ;-) ?
Or are you at the office five days a week?
What’s a whopper jr BTW, like the db cheeseburger in size? Seems very very cheap for sure 😅
