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Visiting Japan this last summer, I was shocked at how much cheaper basic meals were. Even if you used a 1 USD = 100 JPY exchange rate instead of the real one,
by TulliusCicero 3y ago
Visiting Japan this last summer, I was shocked at how much cheaper basic meals were.
Even if you used a 1 USD = 100 JPY exchange rate instead of the real one, I could get nicer breakfasts than McDonald's for much cheaper somewhere like Sukiya, and they're open 24/7 to boot! Fully open, not just a drive through sometimes like in the states. Ordering experience was great too, they have these tablets where you can switch the language to English so it's easy.
Anyway, it kinda feels like McDonald's in the US isn't actually that cheap anymore? When I order breakfast there sometimes, it always feels like the food is kind of pricey considering they're just keeping it warm or warming up premade food.
Edit: looks like I'm not just imagining it, Big Mac prices have outpaced inflation over the last couple decades - https://www.axios.com/2022/04/17/mcdonalds-big-mac-inflation-food-prices https://www.axios.com/2022/04/17/mcdonalds-big-mac-inflation...
I wonder why?
- tehwebguy 3y agoMaybe the inexpensive, fresh food at convenience stores drives down fast food prices there?
- mech422 3y agoI needed that laugh... :-D
- Dylan16807 3y agoWhat laugh, please explain.
- wkat4242 3y agoIf people cared about fresh food, McDonald's would not exist let alone thrive :)
- Dylan16807 3y agoIt's not binary. Even caring a tiny bit will add more competitive pressure. And that doesn't address the "inexpensive" part.
- nightski 3y agoI care about fresh food, but I can still enjoy McDonalds every once and a while.
- astrange 3y agoMcDonald's does well in Japan and Australia where people have many very high quality food options. It's also not that popular with poor people in the US because it's more expensive than grocery shopping.
- hombre_fatal 3y agoYeah, Japan has so many more options than the US when it comes to food on the go whether you compare the foods available at 7/11s or the $2 bento boxes in a subway station. In the US, fast food is your only option on the go.
- throwup238 3y ago> Anyway, it kinda feels like McDonald's in the US isn't actually that cheap anymore? When I order breakfast there sometimes, it always feels like the food is kind of pricey considering they're just keeping it warm or warming up premade food. US McDonalds has extreme price discrimination akin to what you see with grocery store memberships like Ralphs where they have a "regular" price that almost no one is expected to pay because everyone has a free membership that just requires your (or Jenny's) phone number . If you download their app, it has a bunch of coupons that lower the price of (almost) the entire menu.
- ryanwaggoner 3y agoThe vast majority of McDonald’s customers are not using the app to order.
- throwup238 3y agoThey're coupons. They apply to drive through and dine in orders.
- dawnerd 3y agoStill the vast majority do not use them.
- thrdbndndn 3y agoThat's their entire point. Extreme price discrimination against people who don't know better/don't bother/etc. McD has the most generous coupons in their apps among fast food chain and there is basically no limit.
- atdrummond 3y agoIt depends on the market. I worked at the East Palo Alto McD while I was getting back on my feet a few years back and we had hours where 60-70% of the orders used the app in some way. I’d say probably 35-40% of our customers used the app; of regulars, more than 50%.
- dugmartin 3y agoYes, McDonalds is way too expensive now given the quality and (lack of) service.
- SoftTalker 3y agoWhen I was a kid/young adult (1980s/1990s) I ate at McDonald's quite a bit. I remember it as being decent food and a pretty good value. The restaurants were generally clean and service was usually fast. I don't know if my tastes have changed or the food has or both, but I can't stand McDonalds now. I may have eaten there once or twice in the past 5 years. The food is bad, the french fries in particular are awful (they used to be great), the employees are indifferent and act like customers are an interruption, and it's expensive.
- briHass 3y agoYou could be remembering a time when McD's used to cook their fries in beef tallow. They switched to 'vegetable' oil around 1990 [1] due to the persistent myth that animal fats promote heart disease, or at a rate higher than other oils. IMHO, tallow/lard fried fries taste way better, and McD's really messed up here. [1] https://www.thedailymeal.com/1020277/the-mcdonalds-fries-scandal-youve-forgotten-about/ https://www.thedailymeal.com/1020277/the-mcdonalds-fries-sca...
- thrdbndndn 3y agoI mean, first of all, Japan as a whole has lower cost of living than the US (in term of absolute value, not percentage of income). And from my personal experience, certain things like eating out and hotels are particularly more expensive in the US than the baseline. > Even if you used a 1 USD = 100 JPY exchange rate instead of the real one Well, if we use this.. their website currently lists Big Mac as 450 yen, which isn't that different from 4.x USD price that covers majority of the US.
- mplewis 3y ago450¥ is actually $3.11 which is cheaper than any US Big Mac.
- thrdbndndn 3y agoHence I quoted his "Even if you used a 1 USD = 100 JPY".
- practicemaths 3y agoEconomic theory would suggest that you price your product where it will give you the maximum amount of return or profit. So even if increasing price might lower total number of sales the total dollar amount might actually be bigger than before.
- TulliusCicero 3y agoRight, but normally this is kept somewhat in check by competitive markets. Prices rising are usually a sign that either input costs have risen in a way in which all parties have to deal with them, or the market is becoming less competitive somehow so incumbents can get away with higher prices.
- blackoil 3y agoIn short term aligned with the bonus cycle of management. If high price cause people who have McD as habit slowly trickle to alternate chains/cuisine/modes of eating. In long they may make loss.
- astrange 3y agoMcDonald's is a franchise so you can't guess its behavior by your assumption of how McDonald's corporate management works.
- chii 3y ago> price your product where it will give you the maximum amount of return or profit. this is where price discrimination, aka charging a different price to each customer, comes in. By finding out the maximum a customer would be willing to pay, you can get more profit than a static price for all customers. The only thing is that another customer would not like to see themselves pay a higher price for the same good. Coupons, apps, etc, are the modern way to get around the customers seeing the "real" price others are paying.
- rangestransform 3y agoI suspect the difference in Japan is actually related to commercial real estate rent
- Drew_ 3y agoThe Japanese Yen is just very weak right now for a number of reasons.
- thekevan 3y ago>I was shocked at how much cheaper basic meals were Gregg's in England has entered the chat
- nightski 3y agoI feel like exchange rate doesn't tell you the whole story. If relative income is lower in Japan then items might be priced lower to accommodate the market.
- paxys 3y agoThe reason is that they have captured a set of customers who don't want cheap fast food, they want McDonalds. Same for most other similar chains. Chipotle was great when it was a filling Mexican-ish meal for $5-6. Today the same food is $13-16. It makes no sense for them to stay in business when you can get a burrito for the same price from a much nicer Mexican restaurant across the street, but the people going there specifically want Chipotle burritos and are willing to pay $16 for it.
- QuarterReptile 3y agoFWIW, I see 9.20 for Chipotle in Maryland (and one of the more expensive parts of that expensive state, at that) for the chicken burrito/bowl, no add-ons. I don't deny the disappearance of formerly free hacks and add-ons, or that price has gone up, but the nearly 2.5x probably has some local craziness thrown in. Edit: ouch, just saw it jumped to 10.10 since my last monthly Chipotle order.
- Rapzid 3y agoAnd that's without guac? What's the point.
- cwalv 3y agoI stopped at a chipotle in the Bay area a couple months ago; the check was $19. I was pretty surprised
- teaearlgraycold 3y agoReally? I get the vegetarian burrito (includes guac, I get a second bean scoop as well) in the bay for $10 after tax, no tip prompt either which is nice.
- matteoraso 3y agoMcDonald's prices are all over the place. Big Macs are expensive because of the brand name, but other stuff is remarkably cheap.
- gnicholas 3y agoYeah, egg McMuffins are like 5 bucks now. I’ve started making them on my own, which is actually pretty easy.
- dhosek 3y agoI remember being shocked that a nice restaurant meal in Paris was so much cheaper than it would have been in the U.S.
- Dalewyn 3y ago>I could get nicer breakfasts than McDonald's I'll also point out that Japan McDonald's food is nicer than US McDonald's food. Yes, I'm serious. Even the buns are so much nicer over there, let alone the stuff between them.
- astrange 3y agoHaving eaten SFBA and Tokyo McDonald's in the last month I like the SF one better. (In the US I usually get whichever burger has the most burger for the least bread, ask for extra vegetables, get the mango smoothie, and don't eat the fries.)
- healthdare 3y ago[dead]
- aidog 3y agoJapan has an eating out culture due to smaller living spaces. It sadly became a lot more expensive recently with salaries staying low. McDonalds went up dramatically over 5 years. The quality also went down.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- davidkong0987 3y agoJapan’s been in deflation for decades.