McDonald's Japan hikes prices for third time in 10 months on surging costs

THE Japanese operator of McDonald’s restaurants announced its third price hike in less than a year on Friday (Jan 6), in the latest sign of compounding inflationary pressures on the nation’s consumers.

McDonald’s Holding Company Japan said it would raise prices on about 80 per cent of its menu from Jan 16, citing currency fluctuations as well as surging costs for materials, labour, transportation and energy.

The hikes follow previous increases in March and September last year, as Japan grapples with inflation and a slide in the yen that has made imported ingredients more expensive.

The price for a single cheeseburger will go up to 200 yen (S$2) this month from 140 yen a year ago. The cost of the signature Big Mac hamburger will go up to 450 yen from 410 yen previously.

Prices will go up on more than 4,000 food items from next month, researcher Teikoku Databank said on Thursday, following an even bigger wave of hikes last October.

Separately, Japanese restaurant operators Hot Palette and Royal Holdings said on Friday that they would also raise their prices this month and in March respectively, mostly on beef and steak items. REUTERS