Major fast-food outlets hold out on price increase of menus

Major fast-food franchises – Prestige Holdings and Global Brands Group of Companies – have not made any decisions as yet to restructure their menu or prices in light of an increase in prices of poultry, flour and other raw materials.

Speaking with Sunday Newsday, director of Global Brands Group director Anthony Sabga-Aboud said there have been dramatic price increases from all areas, which has had a significant impact on its operations.

Several companies announced price changes. The National Flour Mills and Nutrimix announced flour price increased earlier this week Carib Brewery, Kiss Baking Co. Ltd and Nestle raised prices on certain products, and chicken and livestock producers and distributors implement price hikes from Monday.

Sabga-Aboud said by the end of January, the company would be in a better position to give details about any pricing changes.

“The price oil has gone up, the price of flour has gone up, the price of packaging and input costs have gone up across the board and it has not been small increases. In fact, it is very, very big.

“Our local suppliers are also passing on the cost as well. So, with that in mind we are reviewing our menu, menu costing and we are committed to offering all our customers as much value as possible,” he explained.

Global Brands Limited owns Pizza Boys, Church's Chicken, Rituals Coffee House, Wok 'n Roll and Donut Boys.

Simon Hardy, Prestige Holdings CEO, said they were not rushing into any knee-jerk reactions to increase prices but were evaluating the current market before a decision is made.

“No decisions have been taken. We are constantly reviewing our prices that we receive from our suppliers. If there is something we need to adjust to, we will look carefully, balancing both the needs of the consumer and the needs of our shareholders. At this stage, no decisions have been taken.”

Prestige Holdings brands included TGI Fridays, KFC, Subway, Pizza Hut, Starbucks.

In July last year, KFC raised prices by just over $2 and adjusted its menu with items like the Boss Meal moving up from $40 to $42, and the Big Deal, increasing as well by $2.05 from $29.95 to $32.