Rising food and paper costs may have you paying more for your Big Mac. / Image: pointnshoot/Flickr/CC BY

McDonald’s is the world’s leader in the fast food market, garnering about 19 percent of that niche. However, faced with the rising costs of food and paper, the company has announced that it plans to implement more small price increases throughout the year in order to offset this trend somewhat.

Earlier estimates proved inadequate

McDonald’s estimates that food costs will rise between 4 percent and 4.5 percent in the U.S. and Europe this year. This is an increase from earlier estimates, which projected only 2 to 2.5 percent increases in the U.S. and 3.5 to 4.5 in Europe. Paper costs were also cited in the projected price hikes. McDonald’s claims that food and paper costs ate up 33.6 percent of the company’s sales in the first quarter of 2011. Those costs were up from 32.9 percent in the same quarter a year ago.

A bad time to raise prices

Consumers who struggle daily with the rising costs for housing, fuel and the other staples, may just stay home to eat if prices increase too significantly.  Steve West, an analyst for securities-related financial services company Stifel Nicolaus, said, “It’s very hard to pass through price increase[s] right now.”

Stock prices fall

After the company announced that it planned to raise prices, shares fell 1.5 percent in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company’s CFO Pete Bensen says the company intends to sacrifice some short term profits in favor of long term growth.

Prices up by 1 percent

In March, McDonald’s implemented a 1 percent menu price increase in the U.S. and Europe. Other increases are planned throughout the year. Price increases are also planned for its stores in China.

McDonald’s continues to lead competition

McDonald’s continues to outperform its competition. Peter Jankovskis, an officer at Oakbrook Investments, claims, “The bottom line is they’re still doing a great job of growing revenue.”  The total first-quarter revenue for the corporation rose 9 percent, to $6.1 billion.  Sales in the European stores were especially significant.

Sources

Reuters

MSNBC

Daily Finance

(Photo: Pink Sherbet Photography/Flickr/CC-BY)

First coined in 1915, the term “consumerism” has not reverted to its original purpose — “advocacy of the rights and interests of consumers” (Oxford English Dictionary). After 50 years it came to mean “the emphasis on or preoccupation with the acquisition of consumer goods” (OED). That meaning of consumerism in 1960 stretches out to the 21st century. There seems to be a manufacturing industry for every demand of society. Things such as food are believed inexhaustible and their production, fast. Patronized fast-food establishments abound, along with many other profitable enterprises.

Fast food nature

Fast food products involve processes that use preservatives to augment their flavor and shelf-life. These preservatives, when taken in amounts hazardous to the human body, cause health problems. Recently, a study was done on the meat of a global fast-food chain. The meat lasted, unaltered and unspoiled, for several months. The study’s result denotes high amounts of preservatives in fast-food, of which are sold, served and eaten globally. The 21st century is steeped in a culture of fast-food.

Health and fast food

While health awareness recognizes the dangers in alcohol drinking and cigarette-smoking, it has yet to fully unveil the long-term impact fast food products have on health. Because advertising media promotes fast-food products’ desirability and edibility more than other media inform society of fast food’s most basic and important quality, which is its nutritional value, health-conscious movements must significantly increase their efforts to inform consumers of the truth about fast-food.

The role of government

Current food safety standards do not consider fast-food products blatantly dangerous. Reality shows fast food is just as unhealthy as alcoholic drinks and tobacco products. Warnings about fast-food items’ health risks ought to be better publicized. The government must streamline, into modern culture, the measures it has taken to counter health risks from fast-food products. If you  need to apply for a payday loan or an installment loan to stock up on healthy food, the costs are nothing compared to a hospital bill. So be aware of the effects of fast food products and make healthy food choices, as it will benefit you in the long run, physically and financially.

Sources

CNN Eatocracy

http://www.extension.umn.edu/family/W00028.pdf

McDonalds Monopoly has been around since 1987. Image: MonkeySimon / Flickr / CC-BY

The newest McDonald’s Monopoly 2010 game officially begins on October 5. The newest McDonald’s Monopoly game integrates Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and the McDonald’s website. Each game piece of McDonald’s Monopoly 2010 will have a “second chance” to win one of the prizes online.

$200 million in McDonald’s Monopoly 2010 prizes

According to McDonald’s and Hasboro, the McDonald’s Monopoly 2010 game will award about $200 million in cash and prizes. The company claims that one in four game pieces will win some kind of prize. Most of the prizes awarded will be small prizes from WalMart, RedBox, Snapfish and McDonald’s. Some prizes are larger, though the chances of winning them are significantly smaller. The game pieces are available on the packages of many McDonald’s products. McDonald’s Monopoly has been a promotion run since 1987.

McDonald’s Monopoly uses networking

The 2010 McDonald’s Monopoly game uses game pieces available on food packages. If a game piece isn’t a winner, though, McDonald’s offers an online “second chance.” The McDonald’s Twitter account will also track which prizes have been claimed and who is winning. This networking element also integrates Foursquare by creating a “heatmap” of how many people are “checking in” to a McDonald’s store. McDonald’s Monopoly players can also enter for instant win prizes online or, after registering, via text.

The McDonald’s Monopoly 2010 economy

One of the biggest side effects of the McDonald’s Monopoly game is the market in game pieces. Individuals who are trying to win the big prizes will sometimes spend big money on “completing” the collection for a prize. If you want to play McDonald’s Monopoly 2010, keep in mind that you are likely to spend more money than you make. Though there are big prizes, like a car and $1 million, it is more likely that you could spend more than no fax payday loans cost, without getting any reward. There is the chance, though, that the McDonald’s Monopoly 2010 Boardwalk piece could be yours, and you might win $1 million. Just like any other game of chance, though, moderation is the name of the game.

Does this look like the kind of thing a health insurance company should invest in? Image from Flickr.

How’s this for a reversal? Life and health insurance firms have invested $1.88 billion in just the top five fast food chains in America. The American Journal of Public Health published a study on April 15 revealing the investment patterns of large insurers. Fast food isn’t the only potentially damaging investment of life and health insurers; in 2009, the New England Journal of Medicine revealed that more than $4.5 billion of health and life insurance money had been invested in tobacco stocks. That is quite the payday loan for companies that seem to have competing interests.

The health insurance risk of fast food

While fast food in and of itself is not necessarily dangerous to one’s health, the fact health insurers, life insurers and other companies concerned with health are investing in potentially dangerous products is disturbing. The researchers in the American Journal of Public Health does point out that “fast food can be consumed responsibly.” However, most evidence points out that fast food, as currently sold and marketed, is a danger to public health. High-fat foods like the ones sold at fast food restaurants have been shown to be addictive. High fast food consumption has also been shown to be correlated with high obesity. Obesity is now the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States.

Health insurance investment in fast food

Most health insurers, as they are currently structured, have profit as their major concern. 11 health insurance companies that own life, disability, or health insurance have about $1.88 billion invested in fast food companies such as McDonald’s, KFC, Taco Bell, and Burger King – easy payday loans in stock value for those companies. These insurers include Massachusetts Mutual, Northwestern Mutual, and Prudential. Insurance companies dispute the total investment numbers. However, insurance companies also admit that their investments may be through subsidiaries or large investment groups.

Health insurance investment in tobacco

At a much larger scale then the reported health insurance investment in fast food is their investment in tobacco companies. A New England Journal of Medicine report found about $4.5 billion of medical, health, life, and disability insurance money invested in tobacco companies. The insurance companies, again, flatly deny this finding. Sun Life, when questioned about their holdings, pointed out that tobacco-related businesses “can be a part of a broader conglomerate involving other aspects such as food production.” Which, given the recent finding about fast food companies, is especially concerning.

Sources:

Scientific American
CNN

Add some bacon and cheese to that chicken, and you have KFC's Double Down. Image from Flickr.

Last year, the KFC Double Down sandwich was tested in two markets – and created so much talk that some wondered if it really existed. Well, the truth is out – and KFC stores around the country are going to start carrying the KFC Double Down on April 12th. No word on the pricing structure, though if it were based on calories this sandwich may require instant payday loans no faxing just to try. The KFC Double Down is reported as having 540 calories (460 for the grilled version) and very close to a full day’s sodium.

The KFC Double Down does away with the bun

The idea of the KFC Double Down is pretty basic, and could very well come from the Atkin’s Diet Days. Do away with the bun – and replace it with meat. The KFC Double Down sandwich puts bacon and cheese between two chicken patties. The sandwich sounds incredibly decadent, and is targeted towards “customers that really want to fill up”. The idea isn’t necessarily new to all celiacs, low-carb dieters, and bread-haters, but it seems be creating tons of buzz.

The Caloric load of the KFC Double Down

KFC has reported that the Double Down is going to weigh in at 540 calories per serving for the classic sandwich. For an adult on a 2,000 calorie-a-day diet (which, unless you are watching your calories, you probably aren’t), that is barely over 1/4 of their daily calories. However, the fat, sodium, and cholesterol load of these sandwiches come closer to 60-100% of the recommended daily allowance. Ouch – that’s worse than getting rejected for online payday loans instant approval. This is, of course, assuming that the KFC Double Down estimates are correct.

Doing the math of the Double Down

The Double Down sandwich sounds like a fairly good deal, calorically. However, there are many that question KFC’s Double Down estimates. So let’s do some math. Three of the Colonel’s Cripsy Strips have 400 calories. Assuming that the chicken patties are the approximate weight of one chicken strip each, that’s 267 calories. Two slices of bacon, even sliced very thinly, add about another 100 calories. While KFC has not announced how much cheese in each Double Down, most pictures indicate it is at least four slices of cheese and/or cheese sauce. At an average of 90 calories per slice, that is at least another 360 calories. That means, being generous, the KFC Double Down could be, at a minimum, 727 calories. Still significantly better for you than a Big Mac.

Sources:

About.Com Calorie Count
NPR

Photo from money.cnn.com courtesy of Jollibee Foods.

Though higher-end restaurants are struggling as people try to scrimp and save, fast food restaurants in the United States are doing as well as ever. In fact, more foreign fast food restaurants are opening locations in the United States, even during this recession.

CNN Money wrote a series on several foreign fast food restaurants that are continuing to spread their businesses across the United States. Here are some highlights.

Jollibee

CNN Money says “Jollibee is known universally as the McDonald’s of the Philippines.” There isn’t a Jollibee anywhere near me, unfortunately, but this place sounds pretty good. Jollibee burgers can come with pineapple on them and sides of spaghetti. A side of spaghetti with a burger? Sure, why not.

I like the cute, smiling bee that’s the restaurant’s mascot. Also, instead of apple pies like McDonald’s, Jollibee has mango pies. Sounds delicious! And, because it’s fast food, you can keep up on your debt consolidation loan and still afford to eat there. Jollibee also serves a side dish called palabok, made of shrimp and noodles, and fried chicken.

Pollo Campero

Speaking of chicken, another restaurant continuing to open U.S. stores is Pollo Campero, the Guatemalan chicken place that beat out KFC in South America. CNN Money writes:

The problem, however, is describing exactly what Pollo Campero’s taste is. “Even when you talk to most experienced and devoted followers,” says Roberto Denegri, president of Campero USA, “describing the flavor is so hard.”

So as the chain grows in the United States — 52 stores so far, since they first opened in 2002 — they’re trying out a new marketing slogan this year: “Flavor you can’t Compero.”

Although it is a fast food place, it serves exotic foods — well, foods that seem exotic here in the U.S. — like yucca fries and fried plantains, and drinks like horchata, cinnamon-flavored milk served cold, and agua de tamarindo, a sweet-and-sour fruit drink. Pollo Campero is growing quickly and ambitiously. It has 52 U.S. stores now and plans to bring that number to 300 by 2014, so keep an eye out.

Chutney Joe’s

I am a huge fan of Indian food, but in some areas it’s so hard to find! If Chutney Joe’s has its way, though, that won’t be the case anymore. The founder, Vijay Puniani, had a restaurant in New Delhi, but moved to the U.S. to work in real estate. Apparently cooking and serving Indian food is where his heart is because he is back to it.

Chutney Joe’s uses healthy cooking techniques — no frying — and doesn’t use butter or heavy cream. Puniani said turning Chutney Joe’s into a fast food chain is challenging because Indian food is complex and consistency is an important element of a chain. He’s managed to focus on a few simpler dishes, and he plans to open five new locations in Chicago in the near future before expanding to New York, Dallas, Atlanta, and Los Angeles.

Nando’s

Most Americans have had Indian and Latin American food, but cuisine from South Africa is not easy to come by unless you’re in a large city. One of those places you could get South African food in Washington, D.C. is Nando’s, which expanded to several other countries — Botswana, Australia and Great Britain just to name a few – before finally coming to the U.S.

Though Nando’s serves foreign food, it’s using a very American marketing strategy, which is to tell people that Oprah Winfrey is a fan. No one’s saying that isn’t true, but I am hoping that the food will be able to speak for itself when it expands to 10 more stores in the next couple of years. CNN Money says:

At the heart of this chain is a Portuguese-style of cooking chicken in a spicy, vinegary sauce known as “peri-peri,” brought to South Africa long ago by Portuguese explorers.