Price of McDonald’s 99p cheeseburger is beefed up to £1.19

THE 99p cheeseburger at McDonald’s has been lost to the cost of living crunch amid sweeping price rises by the fast food giant.

The price is rising for the first time in 14 years, taking it up 20p to £1.19, while many other big-selling items are showing even bigger increases.

McDonald’s blamed rising costs, and suggested most increases had been limited to 10p-20p.

However, angry customers accused the company of greed and putting profits before people.

And a snapshot survey suggested some of its biggest-selling products are showing much larger hikes, hitting families in the pocket over the summer school holidays.

McDonald’s is putting up the price of a large serving of fries, which weighs around 150g, by 20p

‘Know things are tough right now’

to £1.79. This would appear to deliver a huge profit margin given that it is possible to buy a 2.5kg of potatoes at Tesco for just £1.59.

In other changes, Happy Meals for children have gone up by as much as 50p to £3.19 and the Big Mac by 20p to £3.69.

A filet-O-fish is up 20p to £3.59 while a sharebox of 20 Chicken McNuggets is up 60p to £5.59. There are suggestions that some branches have increased this product by £1.

Many of the ‘extra value’ and ‘go large’ meal deals have gone up. The Mcflurry is up 10p and some hot drinks have risen by as much as 50p.

The increases have been announced by the UK head office, but prices vary across the country as they are decided by franchisees who run its outlets.

The rises come when UK supermarket food inflation is running at about 10 per cent on the back of the higher costs of energy, staff, transport and ingredients such as oil, beef, milk and cheese.

And food inflation continues to rise towards a predicted 15 per cent, not least because of the impact of russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has hit supplies of key commodity crops such as wheat, corn and sunflower oil. These same costs have pushed up the price of fish and chips with many small chippies saying they face closure as a result.

A newsletter from the UK and Ireland chief executive of McDonald’s, Alistair Macrow, said the fast food giant was making ‘some tough choices about our prices’.

He added: ‘We know things are tough right now.

‘We’re living through incredibly challenging times and we’re all seeing the cost of everyday items, such as food and energy, increase in a way many of us have never experienced.

Just like you, our company, our franchisees who own and operate our restaurants, and our suppliers are all feeling the impact of rising inflation.

‘Although we’re seeing increasing costs, we’re committed to developing and rewarding our people, supporting our suppliers and the 25,000 British and Irish farmers we work with.’ Sources at the company suggested the prices of salads, wraps, and the popular Mayo Chicken will stay same.

The newsletter added: ‘Some prices remain unaffected and some will continue to vary across our restaurants. We understand that any price increases are not good news, but we have delayed and minimised these changes for as long as we could.’

Customers rounded on the company on social media. One complained it was driven by protecting profit rather than inflation, adding: ‘They could keep the prices the same for the “people” and make less profit... Don’t make out like it’s inflation, it’s greed.’

Another said: ‘Boycott it and watch how quickly the prices come back down.’

A third said: ‘You know there’s a price crisis happening when McDonald’s puts their prices up.’

‘It’s not inflation, it’s greed’