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News McDonald's Japan to increase prices for 80% of its products

thomas

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14 Mar 2002
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Yesterday, McDonald's Japan announced that it would increase the prices of 80% of its products as of 16 January to cover soaring expenses, including material costs, and a weaker Japanese yen. It is the company's third price hike in less than a year.


mcdonalds-japan.jpg

The fast food chain said the price hike is due to soaring material costs, rising labor, logistics and energy expenses, and rapid fluctuations in currency exchange, among other factors. Last year, McDonald's Japan raised prices of about 20% of items in March, and roughly 60% of products in September. In the latest price hike, a Hamburger will be priced at 170 yen (approx. $1.30) -- up from 150 yen, a Cheeseburger will retail for 200 yen (about $1.50) -- up from 180 yen -- and the price of a 15-piece box of Chicken McNuggets will be raised to 710 yen (roughly $5.40) from 590 yen.



McDonald's is not the only fast-food chain implementing price hikes in response to rising materials costs.

Pepper Lunch, a steak and hamburger restaurant chain, also said on Friday that it will raise prices of its popular teppanyaki dish with rice and thinly sliced beef by 40 yen for all sizes, the first price increase since June. The small size "Beef Pepper Rice," as a result, will sell for 720 yen instead of 680 yen.

Paywall alert:
 
Is it just me or do others find it unusual that A) these price increases are announced in advance, and B) treated as national news items?

I feel as if in the US, producers and retailers just move prices as a normal part of business, and that individual chains raising prices on specific items is just never treated as any kind of news event. Gasoline prices get national coverage when they spike (like over the summer holidays). But I just can't imagine US news organizations reporting on a unique item price like this.

Inflation is reported, and price of commodities are reported. But would a US news organization make a story out of the price of socks at Macy's? Is there even a "national price" for something like pancakes at Ihop?

Or is it just the sheer size of America that makes national pricing impossible, and therefore "national price changes" are not a thing like in Japan?
 
Is it just me or do others find it unusual that A) these price increases are announced in advance, and B) treated as national news items?

I feel as if in the US, producers and retailers just move prices as a normal part of business, and that individual chains raising prices on specific items is just never treated as any kind of news event. Gasoline prices get national coverage when they spike (like over the summer holidays). But I just can't imagine US news organizations reporting on a unique item price like this.

Inflation is reported, and price of commodities are reported. But would a US news organization make a story out of the price of socks at Macy's? Is there even a "national price" for something like pancakes at Ihop?

Or is it just the sheer size of America that makes national pricing impossible, and therefore "national price changes" are not a thing like in Japan?
These kinds of things are treated as financial news. So it does make the news but quickly gets buried the next day. Example:

But the thing that may be different in Japan is that the company seems to be going out of its way to make the announcement whereas in the U.S. it's usually related to corporate earnings/performance and comes out during the mandatory financial reporting period.
 
Is it just me or do others find it unusual that A) these price increases are announced in advance, and B) treated as national news items?

I feel as if in the US, producers and retailers just move prices as a normal part of business, and that individual chains raising prices on specific items is just never treated as any kind of news event. Gasoline prices get national coverage when they spike (like over the summer holidays). But I just can't imagine US news organizations reporting on a unique item price like this.

Inflation is reported, and price of commodities are reported. But would a US news organization make a story out of the price of socks at Macy's? Is there even a "national price" for something like pancakes at Ihop?

Or is it just the sheer size of America that makes national pricing impossible, and therefore "national price changes" are not a thing like in Japan?
Good question! Possible factors (rather than answers) may be 1) the tendency to avoid surprises as much as possible in Japan and 2) the large amount of airtime on Japanese TV devoted to 'news' and the need to fill this airtime. I was amazed by how much airtime the media managed to fill on the recent partial closing of the Yamanote line for two days. Certainly such price increases are not announced nationally in advance or reported as news items in the UK.
 
On my last visit in july 2015, the Big Mac was about 800 Yens

Are you sure? No McDonald's customer here, but 800 JPY sounds awfully steep.


Big Mac set perhaps?

 
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