Consumer Pullback is Finally Hitting Restaurant Chains

[bjl584]

Starbucks, McDonald's, Yum earnings show consumers pulling back (cnbc.com)

[disneysteve]

I think fast food price increases have outpaced casual and fine dining price increases. Maybe people are shifting more to better options seeing them as a better value. We eat out quite a bit and the restaurants seem to always be busy anywhere we go. And as soon as a new place opens, it's packed from day one. Now maybe people are ordering less costly items or fewer drinks or skipping dessert as a way to cut back but they seem to be eating out as much as ever.

[Jluke]

My struggle is wanting to get a hoagie or something at a sandwich shop and they are all right around $15. So $30 for two. Can’t justify that as a grabbing a quick bite to eat instead of cooking.

[disneysteve]

My struggle is wanting to get a hoagie or something at a sandwich shop and they are all right around $15. So $30 for two. Can’t justify that as a grabbing a quick bite to eat instead of cooking.

The one saving grace is that portion sizes are ridiculously large most places and "one" meal is really two at a minimum and sometimes more. We went to a local pizza and sandwich shop with friends last week. My wife and I split one sandwich, one order of fries, and one drink and it was plenty for both of us. So yes, the sandwich was $15 but it fed us both.

[ua_guy]

I've noticed fast food gets mentioned in a lot of discussions about the economy. Usually about how terrible things supposedly are. And that's when I realized "fast food" is an integral part of certain lower income diets. For feeding the kids, for eating on the job, for eating on the go, for snacking in place of a meal.

Cooking at home is expensive AND time consuming, even if you do it on a budget. So people who rely on "out" food are feeling the pinch. And I'd agree fast food is one of those areas that has outpaced the cost of food price increases alone.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I've noticed fast food gets mentioned in a lot of discussions about the economy. Usually about how terrible things supposedly are. And that's when I realized "fast food" is an integral part of certain lower income diets. For feeding the kids, for eating on the job, for eating on the go, for snacking in place of a meal.

Cooking at home is expensive AND time consuming, even if you do it on a budget. So people who rely on "out" food are feeling the pinch. And I'd agree fast food is one of those areas that has outpaced the cost of food price increases alone.

Unfortunately this is true in the sense that people on lower income often are forced to buy fast food. But it is not cheaper. It's more conveinent, but bread, meat, cheese, or peanut butter and jelly is not more expensive. The problem is usually cooking on a small stove or not having much utensils, but it's cheaper to make mac and cheese and steam frozen veggies. Or throw together frozen veggies $1.25/bag steam in bag, then add in pasta $2/box and tomato sauce $5/jar and you have enough food for a family to be honest.

I mean being from hawaii eggs, rice and maybe gravy is a fast meal and cheap. Rice is $20/20 lb bag, cook it in rice cooker, throw a couple of eggs and some hamburger if you have money and you are set to go. 1 pan on a 2 burner stove and canned gravy and some hamburger for like $3.99/lb and you have few meals. I also know many families on budget websites who do pancakes or breakfast foods for fast meals.

Eating healthy and fresh is very expensive but it's better than fast food. But comparable food to fast food? I can do it cheaper. Package of buns, 1 pound of hamburger and bag of frozen fries? I can do it also with a college fridge and 2 burner stove. But it's not fun. In many european and asian countries with small living spaces they shop daily and cook daily with dorm fridge sizes. But in other countries eating out is also substantially cheaper because of the size of homes.

It's a trade off. I will admit to being exhausted many nights and hating cooking.

[srblanco7]

I think fast food price increases have outpaced casual and fine dining price increases. Maybe people are shifting more to better options seeing them as a better value.

McDonalds seems have lost sight of their value proposition - which is convenience and cost-effectiveness. Instead they have increased prices to the point where the cost of a meal is in the neighborhood of higher quality options.