McDonald’s UK raises price of cheeseburger for first time in 14 years

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McDonald’s has announced a supersized price increase, putting up the price of a cheeseburger by a fifth to ?1.19 with immediate effect.

The chain blamed its first cheeseburger price hike in 14 years on soaring costs and said other big price increases were on the horizon.

The chief executive of McDonald’s UK and Ireland, Alistair Macrow, said it was committed to selling food at affordable prices but cost pressures meant it was having to “make some tough choices”.

He said: “This summer our restaurants will be adding between 10 and 20p to a number of menu items impacted most by inflation. From today we’ll be increasing the price of our cheeseburger for the first time in over 14 years, taking it from 99p to ?1.19.

“We understand that any price increases are not good news, but we have delayed and minimised these changes for as long as we could.”

McDonald’s said some menu prices would be unaffected and that they would continue to vary across its 1,300 UK restaurants, because the majority are run by franchisees.

It is expected that its McFlurry desserts will be among the items affected by the price rises, and that the cost of the “go large” option – sizing up from a medium drink and fries on a meal deal – will double to 60p.

On Tuesday Unilever, the owner of brands including Marmite, Ben & Jerry’s and Magnum ice-cream, said it had raised its prices by 11.2% in recent months and expected further increases throughout the year.

Official figures show inflation running at a 40-year high of 9.4%. The rising cost of food is one of the major forces driving up living costs, with sharp increases in prices of staples such as milk, butter and eggs propelling food price inflation to 9.8%.

The price increases on the menu at McDonald’s are just the latest from big high street names. The rival chains Nando’s and KFC have already increased their prices as the supply chain disruption caused by the war in Ukraine pushes up the cost of poultry.

Even a morning coffee comes at a higher price these days. In February Pret a Manger raised the price of its coffee subscription service by 25% after increases in the cost of milk, coffee beans and staff pay.