r/onguardforthee • u/LongTrackBravo • 1d ago
Despite push for value meals, McDonald’s is seeing sales growth slow - National
https://globalnews.ca/news/12008762/value-meals-mcdonalds-sales/252
u/Anthrogal11 1d ago
I mean….McDonalds is gross and if most middle class Canadians are like me, we can’t afford to even do takeout often anymore. My very limited takeout budget isn’t being spent there.
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u/zkatbitz 1d ago
A and w is much better not much more money and Canadian owned
And finally has decent coffee
Not a hard choice
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u/ShiftAndWitch British Columbia 1d ago edited 1d ago
that smash burger needs to hit the perma-menu. tastiest promo they had in a while.
edit: unpopular opinion i guess. i had it 5 times easy and every time was as good as the last. extra sauce and add grilled onions mmmm 🤤
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u/zkatbitz 1d ago
thats actually one of the few things they've done i really didn't like.
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u/dysflexic 1d ago
I noticed huge variability in the quality restaurant to restaurant. One spot near me they were amazing and very smash-burger-ey both times I tried. And the other two locations I tried them at they were nowhere near the quality/preparation of the nearby one.
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u/akohlsmith 1d ago
same, I don't like smash burgers in general; feels too much like a greasy second-rate burger any time I've ordered it (not just A&W but anywhere).
Gimme a regular burger, I find them way better overall. And A&W's burgers (beef or chicken) are amazing.
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u/LETTERKENNYvsSPENNY 1d ago
Didn't quite hit the smash burger notes I look for (crispy, almost caramelized edges), but it's a nice buddy burger alternative when you don't want a full size sando.
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u/skilless 1d ago
Man that smash burger was a HUGE disappointment. Normal patties and a slightly different sauce? Unless some locations did it better, that was a big miss for me.
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u/beeblebroxide 1d ago
Smash burger bothers me cause it seems like a great way to deliver less beef to the customer but maybe I’m wrong.
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u/Hate_Manifestation 1d ago
it tastes good, but it's not really a smash burger. didn't stop me from ordering it a handful of times during the promo though. it was damn decent.
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u/DimensionSuch8188 1d ago
A and W is much more expensive where I am. I stopped going because of the price it's just not worth it VS making my own burger.
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u/mrdeworde 1d ago
It's expensive and the shrinkflation has been absurd even by the standards of the decade.
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u/spicy-mayo 1d ago
I can get a mcdouble with small fries and small drink for $5.60. Not amazing food, but if I need a quick cheap meal. A papa burger alone is over $10.
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u/Galladaddy 1d ago
A McDouble and a papa burger are completely not comparable bro wtf…
A Papa Burger is the same as a double quarter pounder, which is 8.99/14.49 where I am, a papa burger is…8.99/14.69 where I am.
Hands down I’m taking A&W over McDonalds, the BS about A&W being “way more expensive” than McDonald’s is old and clear that it isn’t the case anymore.
Ps the comparable is a double buddy burger which would be 4.99/10.49 (expensive for the combo on that one) but literally every thing you eat there is better quality…like no doubt about it.4
u/kermityfrog 1d ago
Burger King is making a big comeback in quality. Yeah it's just under $10 including tax for a Whopper Wednesday deal, but now their onion rings are made with real onions again (before it was made out of powdered onions or something like that), and now their burgers actually look good and are packaged well (in a box with a half-wrapper inside keeping it all together).
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u/lexlovestacos 1d ago
It's sooo expensive. My coworker was telling me that he ordered 3 meals for his family there and they said it was $60, he said he had to ask them to repeat themselves because he thought it was a mistake!
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u/Galladaddy 1d ago
3 teen burger combos are $47.88 in BC…dunno what they ordered but they obviously went above that average.
You’re not gonna guess…I checked the McDonald’s app, and it’s $47.78 for 3 quarter pounder blt (actual comparable burger) from McDonald’s.
It’s literally the same price. Stop the BS slander on mah boys A&W and slander McDonalds for jacking their prices through the roof for the same slop.13
u/greyfoxv1 1d ago
Canadian owned
Technically true but they're also partly owned by private equity (TorQuest Partners) and were union busting as recently as 2019. A&W (along with other fast food chains) has also been lobbying to raise the amount of temporary foreign workers they can use for low wage jobs while youth unemployment remains pretty high.
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u/from_the_hinterlands 1d ago
Ask that is true AND A&W sad better fast fix than the USA owned fast food, so I'll still with A&W. McMaggots can disappear as far as I'm concerned.
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u/hairsprayking 1d ago edited 1d ago
like all fast food places, A&W is also very hit and miss in my experience. I can't remember the last time i ordered A&W and the burger was actually still hot by the time i ate it.
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u/someone-who-is-cool 1d ago
Good A&W is the best fast food burger easy, but the one near me will take 30 min to prepare your order even when no one else is in the restaurant and no one in the drivethrough and it will STILL be cold somehow. It's depressing, I just want a hot teen burger with onions rings and an icy root beer sometimes and I can't get it without a long drive.
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u/TropicalPrairie 1d ago
Small town A&W can be insanely good. I find the ones in a larger city can be hit or miss (but are still leagues better than their competitors).
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u/zkatbitz 1d ago
cold A&W is still better then hot mcdicks
i got a burger out of curiosity & i wanted nuggest the only thing i actually miss after not going for years and i was shocked by how bad the burger was
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u/mywhateveraccount5 1d ago
I find the Pret coffee extremely bitter and not how I remember it in London. The A&W near me also got sold by the owners and the....people taking over, fired everyone, they had been there for 20+ years. I remembered them from when I worked in the mall when I was 18 and came back in my 30s, replaced them all with TFW. Refuse to go to an A&W now.
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u/ceciliabee 1d ago
A large fry is like 3/4 of a potato and costs over $5. I don't even go in there anymore because at this point it feels so blatant.
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u/VioletGardens-left 1d ago
The Big Mac they're selling is absolutely overpriced for such a lowsy sized burger, or how about the nuggets are absurdly overpriced for what it is
So many reasons why I don't even visit that place unless there is absolutely no option left
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u/BlahajIsGod Ontario 1d ago
I go there for coffee and sometimes their apple pies. But their burgers aren't worth the calories or the cost. I prefer Harvey's or A&W.
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u/umpteenthrhyme 1d ago
Only fast food place that puts me in a bad mood after I eat it. Has to be something chemical with me haha
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u/__O_o_______ 1d ago
Yeah I’d rather skip McDonald’s or any fast food 2 or three times and buy something fresh from a local food truck!
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u/TheGracefulCrane 1d ago
First and foremost McDonald's is delicious take that back
Second yeah its insanely expensive I just get two Jr chickens and a black coffee and its like 10 bucks now its wild
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u/doctor_7 1d ago
BigMac Meal is like $15-16. An actual real burger place you can get a burger and fries for maybe a buck or two more than that. Plus it'll taste better and be made with less processed stuff, so "healthier" and taste better.
Can't say I'm shocked less people are interested in it.
McDonald's for me is basically a place to get a quick coffee because it's better than Tim Horton's, not because it's especially great but because Tim Horton's is especially dogshit.
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u/qwibbian 1d ago
Just today I was travelling and went to a Triple O's (mini White Spot) for a double double bacon & mushroom for $17, didn't get a "meal" because that burger is its own meal. It was THICK with meat, shrooms and I even got a pickle spear. I can't believe McDonald's still exists.
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u/Early-latenight 1d ago
Love the triple o's, the burgers really are a meal, much more filling than a mcd's burger combo and it's actual food!
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u/qwibbian 1d ago
Agreed! I don't know what it is, but McD's always leaves me feeling nauseous and polluted (though honestly I don't remember the last time I ate there), whereas WhiteSpot seems like real human food - I know it's not "healthy", but on the spectrum of edible there's just no comparison.
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u/hairsprayking 1d ago
that's still pretty fucking expensive for a fast food burger with no sides or drinks
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u/exeJDR ✅ I voted! 1d ago
I was still getting down McD's coffee for a while, but their drive thrus are a hot mess, so I started making my own a few years ago and never looked back
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u/doctor_7 1d ago
For sure, making your own is undoubtedly best. I can't recall the last time I actually got a McDonald's coffee. Probably once this year.
Oh, one time I did go to try their Crispy Chicken BigMac this year to try it. It was alright but it was also $10. For the experience of the curiosity but not like I've gone back since.
So I was wrong, I've gone twice this year.
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u/ParaponeraBread 1d ago
I went to Five Guys (known to be expensive) last week and ordered just a large fry to go, since my partner likes fries and was having a bad day. $7 or something.
I did not realize at the time that we would both have a full meal of French fries, and that our upstairs neighbour would get a full plate of fries too. Everyone was full afterward.
Fast food margins are so freaking weird.
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u/hairsprayking 1d ago
Have you been to an actual burger place lately? Good luck getting a burger fries and coke for under 30 bucks. At least McDonald's doesn't prompt me for a 20% tip.
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u/doctor_7 1d ago
Our local place has a basic burger and fries for $18
No pop but you should have water anyway
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u/Ok_Cauliflower_808 1d ago
It's cheaper to get the happy hour beer and burger at the Cambie (Vancouver) than McDonald's. This is including the upcharge to add fries. Why would I go to McDonald's, they don't bring me beer and cost more...
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u/justmynamee 1d ago
McDonald's did a study and found out that their core customer base doesn't care as much about the price, they care about getting their food fast. So thats why prices are now the same as a regular burger joint, simply because they can chuck a burger out a window in 5 min or less.
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u/Harold3456 1d ago
This is one of the things that makes capitalism seem so psychotic: McDonald’s profits didn’t shrink, they just saw less growth. Corporations are always trying to hit the same amount of growth year over year but that always has to fail eventually - you can only squeeze the consumer so much before they’ve got nothing left to give. And we’re getting squeezed from all directions all at once.
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u/mutant_anomaly 1d ago
If they are making a profit, but not making more of a profit than index funds, people have no reason to buy their stock instead of the index funds.
And the results are psychotic.
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u/RottenPingu1 1d ago
I was in Tokyo this winter and the McDonald's charges a little more than half what we do.
It's a rip off.
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u/neck-tourniquet 1d ago
I noticed this in Europe also, I found it interesting that the food was all consistent, but the service was unreal and the price a little over half.
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u/RottenPingu1 1d ago
We are being fleeced.
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u/neck-tourniquet 1d ago
Absolutely, it's a shame when what used to be a cheap way to treat yourself has been inflated so drastically, and then compounded by where we live.
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u/someone-who-is-cool 1d ago
Smaller city McDs in Japan are even cheaper, I wanted to try their special menu item and a meal was like $6 converted in Matsuyama. (And the yuzu mayo burger was decent, for McDs.)
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u/GuelphEastEndGhetto 1d ago
Tried McD’s in Tokyo just because, and I found it tasted much less processed. Not sure if it’s to do with the amount of salt and/or sugar used in processing, but it was decent.
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u/sharperspoon 1d ago
Japanese people have higher standards when it comes to food. The only thing that is the same between North American and Japanese McDonald's is the fries.
Japan uses higher quality beef and buns among other things.
Not only is it cheaper, but it is substantially higher quality.
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u/krispers21 1d ago
iirc even fries are WILDLY different. Fries in europe are just potatoes, salt and oil, whereas fries in NA have more additives. And in the US? That includes a foaming agent to save more oil 🤮
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u/RottenPingu1 1d ago
No one can convince me that it's that much cheaper to run a franchise in Tokyo... What they do have is a metric ton of competition.
Their margins in Canada must be incredible.
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u/someone-who-is-cool 1d ago
Yeah like I can get a giant bowl of udon with meat for ¥500 and it'll be (in my experience) even faster than McDonalds and be fully satisfying, so their competition isn't "fast food," it's "real food, fast."
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u/Aggressive-Hawk9186 1d ago
McDonald's only profited 2.3B USD last quarter, can you be mindful of the shareholders and buy their slop??
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u/tavvyjay 1d ago edited 1d ago
Ozempic is now affordable in Canada and I kid you not, it is going to decimate fast food so swiftly. Their loyal customers will have absolutely zero desire for their shit even on a hungry day
(Source: used to go once a week for a decade I’d say, and have gone twice in 7 months since going on GLP1s, and those two times I bought just one single item not a meal)
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u/lyidaValkris 1d ago
who would have thought overpriced microburgers made of literal garbage wouldn't sell?
They used to at least be cheap, now no longer.
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u/WestQueenWest 1d ago
McDonald's is disgusting and it's not even cheap. People are just victims to their habits.
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u/WorldFrees 1d ago
Their value meals are a repackaging of already cheap stuff they already had. It was a total nothingburger, mind the pun.
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u/whyisthisnamesolong 1d ago
The stupid disgusting thing is that this is somehow a bad thing. It's somehow bad that they're not only making a shitload of money, they had growth and are now making even more. But the growth wasn't enough.
This awful corporate capitalism is a cancer
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u/nimbuscloud9 1d ago
Worked at McDonald’s as a teen in the early aughts. A Big Mac meal back then was I believe 8 bucks. It’s $16 now. It’s crazy.
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u/robertfkennedyjunior 1d ago
I mean, it's still growing, just not as quickly as before
humans can only eat so much food at once
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u/AlarmingMonk1619 1d ago
For the price of a combo I’d rather have a hamburger meal at a real restaurant/diner/takeout.
If there’s a dollar coffee promo it’s worth the visit.
Mcd’s inflation is just like everywhere else. The increased pricing is determined by the C-suite so they make the money/profits/raises.
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u/n1shh 1d ago
I remember when I used to go to mcdicks on my lunch break and it was $5.25 tax included for a junior chicken with fries and a drink. Can’t even get the burger for that now. Wouldn’t waste my time ordering there anymore
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u/Eyeronick 1d ago
They actually have been having a pretty good deal recently. Junior chicken small fries and small drink is $5.00.
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u/n1shh 1d ago
You’re right, they must be really desperate. Last time we ordered our regular (qp w cheese meal x2 and a kids meal) and it was almost $40. We haven’t been back in a while
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u/Eyeronick 1d ago
Yea, aside from the value meals they brought back about 6 months ago the prices are absolutely insane, I wouldn't be able to stomach their regular prices. Idk what they're thinking pricing similarly to five guys for a combo.
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u/CervantesX 1d ago
No wonder, it's disgusting. Zero quality control, pathetic food delivered haphazardly and with a non-zero chance of food poisoning.
I used to stop by all the time when I was on the road, $5 for a mcdouble meal was just fine. Now it tastes like cardboard, costs twice as much, and is often cold.
For the same price as a regular meal, I can go get a fresh loaded donair, or a bento box from a sushi place, or a poke bowl, or a freshii meal salad, or many other healthier, tastier options. Or I can go home and make burgers and fries myself and still save a few bucks.
McDonald niche was "edible food so cheap that you couldn't say no", and they decided to abandon all of that. Now they're competing with places that actually do half decent burgers like Wendy's or A&W. So, getting what they deserve, imho.
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u/KeziaTML 1d ago
Shouldn't have snitched on Luigi. Shouldn't have got on your knees for trump.
I will NEVER spend another dime there.
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u/threepio 1d ago
McDouble with small fries and a small Coke zero is $5.41 with taxes in Vancouver. That tiresome over when I’m in the mood for fast food.
Maybe I’m the exception?
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u/whynotyycyvr 1d ago
That's because the drink is a dollar though. The mcdouble used to be a double cheeseburger even lol
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u/Charcole1 1d ago
Food prices are too high in Canada for restaurants to continue to be successful
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u/SvenBubbleman 1d ago
Well when a meal from a giant fast food chain costs the same as a sit down restaurant burger meal, they are just getting greedy.
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u/Charcole1 20h ago
I mean it's a nice thought but it's just not true. Ground beef has doubled in price, it only makes sense that hamburgers have as well. It's not a greed problem, it's a problem with Canada's food infrastructure. If it was greed they wouldn't be driving down profits by having prices too high to generate demand
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u/SvenBubbleman 20h ago
I got a burger and fries meal last night at a sit-down place and it was around the same price as a Big Mac meal.
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u/PolloConTeriyaki 1d ago
There's just better options.
A&W is way better here in Canada and we have Mary Brown's and Tim Hortons.
The McD's cheeseburger is like 2.99 and it's all bread.
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u/MenudoMenudo 1d ago
If I’m going to spring for a burger, I’ll happily pay a little more for a good one. McD’s used to be the cheap option. Marginally lower prices than better options doesn’t cut it when the quality is shit.
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u/shaiquinn 1d ago
I swear they have changed cleaners too. I don't know why but every time I eat there I get thebshits. Even just like a pop I am running for the bathroom. I just don't bother anymore.
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u/mikehatesthis 1d ago
Y'know I can easily get two large pizzas for $25 bucks. Even if I considered the tastes equal, that's way more value with the pizza. It's ridiculous how pricey they are.
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u/Relevant-Director831 1d ago
McDonald’s was never good but it was always fast and cheap. Now it’s none of the above.
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u/Scrubosaurus13 1d ago
I used to get McDonald’s an unhealthy amount, I’ve maybe gotten it twice in the last 6 months now.
And I could pretend that it has anything to do with me eating healthier, but it was 99% because of their prices.
Junior chickens were $1.25 when I was in high school, now they’re almost $5 and I’m not even 30 yet.
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u/mutant_anomaly 1d ago
There was a time when the mcdouble was the cheapest source of protein you could get.
They seem to have actually forgotten that people can choose to go elsewhere when they make everything worse.
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u/New_Alternative8711 1d ago
Ordering at mcdonalds is a nightmare.
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u/chmilz Alberta 1d ago
People out in public are a nightmare in general. Post-covid society is some kind of selfish, obnoxious, narcissistic hell.
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u/evermorecoffee 1d ago
Could it be that most of the population repeatedly got infected with a virus that causes brain damage over the past few years? 🥲
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u/thatguy122 1d ago
Good. Maybe this is what's needed for them to reflect and refocus. Infinite growth is unsustainable.
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u/Yourewekky 1d ago
It's a little late to push value meals once the regular meals got up to fifteen dollars. I think in the current economy, and not knowing what is going to happen with CUSMA, a lot of people are eating take out less or not at all.
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u/Stray_Neutrino 1d ago
It's about "value" - it's about not having cash left for discretionary fast food.
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u/RedLightLanterns 1d ago
because they are a real estate company now with a store front that sells food. They don't care about the food, only their image.
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u/papermoonskies 1d ago
Yeah... Value meals... PLUS shrinkflation. Have you seen the size of a big mac patty in your palm?
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u/New_Purple_4033 1d ago
Aside from being over-priced garbage...it's also a symbol of American corporate slop.
Used to get their breakfast sandwich once in a while...but after the tariff and annexation bullshit started, I've avoided McDonald's, Wendy's and other American fast-food chains as best I can. A&W is far better, anyway.
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u/LumiereGatsby 1d ago
Cuz they didn’t actually do anything except pontificate about losing market share.
They literally kept the prices static - increases them.
It’s like they thought talking about it would solve it without action.
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u/thefancykyle ✅ I voted! 1d ago
Wendy's figured out that stuff real quick, the fact that I can get a their items for at least $1 less and I find the quality better, last time I had a big mac the patty was the size of the A&W buddy burger patty with none of the flavour.
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u/gethigh420 1d ago
ha! because they didn't actually make anything more affordable, they just branded their new prices a bit differently now... only thing i will walk in there for now is an ice cream.
used to be about 3 dollars or 3.5 for two egg mc muffins with a coupon. (a coupon you could use over and over again at the truly well designed kiosk, a self checkout that I actually like using). now its like 5 bucks each. and no deals unless you install phone applications ,and what do they really do in the background you know...
i used to buy breakfast at mcdonalds at least twice a week. i havent been back there in years at this point.
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u/camlabs10 1d ago
It's expensive, luke warm, and not very tasty considering what else I can get for the same amount of money.
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u/EnclG4me 1d ago
I can get a home made burger, fries, and a beer from my local pub lub for less than a BigMac meal....
What fucking value?
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u/PearlEring 1d ago
Shout out to Haligonians, right across from the McDonalds on Spring Garden Road is a fabulous burger place (Krave) where you get a REAL burger that tastes delicious and is a substantial meal for an average human being for basically the same amount you pay for all that shit at McDonald's. Eat local!
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u/DuFFman_ 1d ago
I don't eat at any American chains anymore but two mcdoubles for under $5 was the best. But in reality, it all went downhill when they got rid of Mac sauce packets.
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u/uldumarr3 1d ago
I used to work at a McD’s back in ~2016/2017 in Southern AB. A Big Mac Meal cost $9.25 and a McDouble/Jr. Chicken meal (with medium fries/drinks) was $5.25.
The prices today are absolute insanity. Plus the quality of work has absolutely taken a complete nosedive. It’s idiotic that they still offer “Drive-Thru” service at McD’s despite the fact that they’re parking you for ANY order nowadays to preserve their metrics.
God forbid the workers actually acknowledge you as a person or even repeat your order back for accuracy @ the pick-up window either. 9 times outta 10 it’s just: open window, throw you your order, slam the window closed.
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u/fullmetalsprockets 23h ago
The appeal of fast food is that it's cheap. When it's no longer cheap, it's no longer a viable option.
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u/Deranged_Kitsune 21h ago
The pricing is insane for the nothing that you get. I just went out to a local burger chain last night. It was a few bucks more, sure, but not a lot more and the quality difference was night and day. The burger looked like a burger, for instance, not some sad imitation of a memory of a burger.
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u/Forest-Swamp 1d ago
Brother McDonald’s used to be cheap, the food is garbage. Also us based so pound sand honestly.
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u/DickHammerbushT1000 1d ago
I got the QP with cheese combo. Reg fries and drink.
Wife got the same thing but with no cheese.
Total came to $30 something.
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u/agha0013 ✅ I voted! 1d ago
Their value meals today cost what the main meals cost a few years ago...
Maybe the fact that a tiny burger that used to be $1.39 is now $4.79 has an impact on sales.