英文报导 其实有几个月了 U.S. fast-food chains cut discounts, push pricy meals post-pandemic NEW YORK, June 22 (Reuters) - Restaurant chains including McDonald’s CorpMCD.N)nd KFCYUM.N)re paring back $5-and-under “value” items in favor of more expensive $10-to-$30 combination meals, a strategy employed to lift sales and profits and offset rising food costs as the U.S. economy reopens. "Value" meals – sandwich, soda and French fry combinations priced at $5 or less — have long been a staple of fast-food offerings. Chains used the deals to lure bargain-conscious customers, bringing traffic to stores. But deals priced at $5 and under have become less generous in the last 18 months. During the pandemic, fast-food gained market share from other restaurants forced to close as customers motored through socially distant drive-throughs to pick up a sack of burgers. Now that the United States is reopening, those chains are selling new, pricier sandwiches and meals to customers - a move that some warn may alienate some hourly workers and other lower-income customers as government subsidies wane and mom-and-pop restaurants reopen. So far, the chains' trade-up tactic is working, helping lift comparable sales at limited-service restaurants by 11.5% this May compared to the same month in 2019, according to data from Black Box Intelligence. Profit margins are also up at several major chains. "Value menu items are not really profit drivers. They're designed to drive traffic," said BTIG analyst Peter Saleh. The pandemic also forced chains to halt development of new items. As U.S. COVID-19 cases fall, chains are again launching new sandwiches – and promoting them – to try to boost traffic, he said. Wendy's CoWEN.O)aid it pioneered the value menu in 1989, when it dedicated part of its menu board to 99-cent items. But today, Wendy's is "trading folks up into our best, highest-quality food items," said Chief Executive Officer Todd Penegor during a May earnings call with analysts, "and we'll continue to do that." Wendy's current menu includes items that are higher priced than its standard burgers, like its Spicy Pretzel Bacon Pub – a fried chicken fillet on a pretzel bun topped with pickles, fried onions, bacon, two kinds of sauce and muenster cheese for $7. KFC, owned by Yum Brands InternationalYUM.N)aid it stopped marketing "$5 Fill Ups" – a pot pie or chicken dish, plus a medium drink, chocolate chip cookie and sometimes a biscuit – aimed at individuals in 2020. It now promotes family meal deals that cost as much as $30. Dominos Pizza IncDPZ.N)aid in April it did not need its "Boost Week" discount to drive store traffic. So it suspended the half-price pizza promotion for online orders. Franchisees typically try to maximize profits, said Credit Suisse analyst Lauren Silberman. When commodity costs are as high as they have been over the past year, franchisees discount less to maintain profitability. Many chains increased their U.S. margins during the pandemic, including McDonald's and Yum Brand's Taco Bell, she said. U.S. Producer Prices Index data for May showed prices businesses have paid for meat and poultry have spiked more than 20 percent since the start of the year. CORE CUSTOMERS Fast-food customers include both wealthier and lower-income hourly workers. People with household incomes of $100,000 or more made up about 39% of fast-food visits in May, while people making less $25,000 comprised about 12% of visits, according to data from The NPD Group. Those with incomes between $25,000 and $100,000 made up 49% of visits, the data show. Chains and franchisees that remove too many low-priced deals risk losing core customers who specifically come in for those items, said Mark Kuperman, chief operating officer at Revenue Management Solutions, a Florida-based pricing advisor to restaurants. To be sure, chains haven't completely abandoned the value menu. McDonald's launched its "$1 $2 $3 Dollar" menu during the fast-food discount wars of 2018 as part of its turnaround plan. Today, that menu is pared down to 8 items instead of 12. The company said value items remain a core part of its marketing. Meanwhile, it is aggressively promoting its $10 "BTS Meal" named for the popular South Korean boy band that endorses it. That higher-priced promotion is part of a strategy to reach younger customers, McDonald's said. Data shows fast-food chains launched fewer new combination meals over the last 18 months, according to Datassential, a Chicago research firm that counts the deals that U.S. national restaurant chains promote on their websites and social media. A sample of 51 U.S. quick-service chains launched a total of 38 "combo/value meals" through May. That's roughly on par with 66 total value meals that chains launched in 2020. But the 2020 figure was nearly 57% lower than the 152 value meals the chains launched in 2018. Restaurant operators are optimistic. "I've never seen consumers less price sensitive than they are today," one fast-food franchisee told Reuters. Reporting by Hilary Russ; editing by Anna Driver and Nick Zieminski https://tinyurl.com/e9e6zu 这边还有日文版新闻 https://www.businessinsider.jp/post-237456 简单来说 就是美国速食店的客群取向 从以前可能会推出划算省钱的经济套餐组合 （以台湾麦当劳来说 可能是什麽壹加壹） 逐渐导向高价消费客群这部分 所以餐点跟菜单也许慢慢会淘汰以往 比较低价路线的餐点 新产品会以高级化为主 新闻提了一堆 这边简单说几个 麦当劳淘汰了像是小麦克 双层麦克 沙拉等比较低价产品 （这边是美国麦当劳产品） 可能会针对美国各地 推出以该地区口味的产品 肯德基则是取消了五美元可以吃饱饱套餐 之後则是针对家族套餐来设计 温蒂汉堡则是调整菜单 高价产品放在上方容易看到的位置 比较便宜的产品则是往下放 当然也有不走这套的美国速食店 像是taco bell 就持续提供平价餐点路线 =============================== 原来台湾速食店是在走世界潮流 难怪东西越来越不便宜 可是… 价格提高 相对的应该是提供等值的产品给消费者 不应该是价钱往上 产品原地甚至退步吧？ 难道不是吗？ （台湾速食店哪家敢说自己做到?） --

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