McDonald's price hike angers customers

McDonald's Korea will increase the price of some menu items by about 1.36 percent from Monday. / Yonhap

By Kim Jae-heun

Joh Ju-yeon.

McDonald's will increase the price of some menu items in South Korea by an average 1.36 percent from Monday.

The company said on Friday the decision was because of increases in the prices of raw materials for its products. It said it would keep the prices for customers' favorites such as Mac-All-Day Meal.

However, the price of some other best-selling items, Big Mac Meal and Cheese Burger Meal, will rise by 200 won (17 cents).

Local customers have criticized the price increases.

“It is ridiculous how McDonald is increasing its price for burger meals little by little,” said office worker Cho Hyun-soo. “What is the most iconic and popular meal of McDonald's? What do they mean they will not increase the price for popular burger meals when they did for Big Mac Meal?

“McDonald's has been lying about everything from when it increases the price of items to when something happens with a burger. I wouldn't even complain about the price increase if it actually started caring about the quality of the meals and ingredients that go into their burgers.”

McDonald's will increase the price of four burgers, two morning meals, one side and one drink. The increases vary from 100 to 300 won.

A company official said the company would cut the price for Double Bulgogi Burgers and Double Cheese Burgers by 100 won and a burger by 200 won. However, this reduction does not impress customers because these items are already low-priced.

“This is why we think McDonald's is playing a trick when they want to increase its item prices,” said another office worker, Chang Hyun-jae. “If McDonald's keeps using this tactic with customers, it will soon lose our loyalty.”

McDonald's has been criticized for increasing prices while decreasing the quality of the food.

Since McDonald's Korea Managing Director Melanie Joh, better known as Joh Ju-yeon here, became chief of the company's South Korean affiliate, she has faced several challenges, including “hamburger disease” for which the prosecution is investigating the serving of undercooked patties that made some consumers sick.

Despite the controversies, Joh has only been interested in improving profitability, increasing the price of some burgers by up to 20 percent. This led to an overall average 4 percent increase in the price of 27 items.

The company said the price hike was inevitable because the price of ingredients had risen along with labor costs and rent.

Many believe this is nonsense.

Instead of improving the quality of ingredients, McDonald's has changed some low-price burger buns to even cheaper ones. It also changed its scrambled egg recipe to using only one egg instead of two. Meanwhile, the company increased its delivery fee by at least 23.7 percent.