‘That was apparent when they started charging $2.50 for a hash brown’: Former McDonald’s corporate chef says yes, they’re moving away from Value Menu items
Customer dissatisfaction with McDonald's is steadily growing due to rising prices at the register. A Big Mac dinner is likely to set you back nearly $16 to $18 dollars now depending on your location, and customers are beginning to take to social media to express their displeasure at the bite.
And if you were hoping to get at least some relief by using the "value menu," former McDonald's executive chef Mike Haracz has some bad news for you.
According to Haracz, it is quite likely that the so-called "dollar menu" will soon be a thing of the past.
Haracz has commented on McDonald's policies multiple times since leaving the company. In his TikTok, posted last week, he discusses the chain's likelihood of abandoning the value menu. The video has 83,4000 views as of Monday.
"At a recent earnings call, McDonald's announced that there is a lot less traffic from the value consumer," Haracz told his viewers, "and there is more trade down from higher income people now going to McDonald's."
"'Trade Down' is, they were going to even more expensive places for their food, their coffee, or whatever it might be and now they are trading down to McDonald's because it's more affordable for them," he explains.
As a result, he goes on, McDonald's is now focusing on those higher-income customers meaning lower-income customers seeking more value for their dollar are getting left in the lurch.
"It does not seem that they are targeting the value customer any more," he concludes.
Viewer @da_baron summed it up well, commenting, "So basically... McDonald's is cheap enough for rich people, and not cheap enough for us poors, got it."
"We used to go to fast food because it was a lot cheaper. but now these mid-fast food places cost as much as much better food establishments," another user added.
"That was apparent when they started charging $2.50 for a hash brown," wrote another.
According to a recent article by the New York Post, McDonald's revenue has increased 14% in the latest quarter—which the company has attributed to “strategic menu price increases.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to McDonald's via email for a statement.
Comedian and TikToker Kev On Sage recently went viral with a video calling out the restaurant chain for doing away with its dollar items.
"We used to be a proper country," he states. "$4.29 for a McChicken? $3.19 for just a cheeseburger? Not even a McDouble, just the cheeseburger. This ain't no McValue."
"People need that one-dollar menu to actually be one dollar still."
The Daily Dot has reached out to Chef Haracz via email for further comment.
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