Major fastfood chains, affected by the rising prices of rice, flour, and meat, are gearing for price hikes of their menus, ABS-CBN News reported Friday.
Fastfood chain KFC on Friday raised the prices of their menu offerings by P1 to P2, which confused customers.
For example, a one-piece chicken combo meal is now P75, up from P72; a two-piece chicken combo meal is now P119 from P117.
On Saturday, McDonalds Philippines said it will also raise their prices, although the company has not yet said by how much the prices will increase.
Pizza chain Shakey's also said they are also looking at the possibility of raising the prices of their pizza and chicken offerings, such as Bunch O'Lunch and Chick 'N Chips.
However, Shakey's management said that they are studying if it would still be possible that the company shoulder the additional costs.
"We are constrained to increase prices on selected items. But we are still making studies of we can try to absorb the increase in the price of flour and dairy products," said Vic Gregorio, general manager of Shakey's Phils.
The price hikes of the said food chains follow those made by the restaurants under the Jollibee group.
Fastfood giant Jollibee on Tuesday hiked the prices of their menu staples by P1 to P2 due to the rising prices of ingredients.
For example, Jolly Spaghetti's price went up from P35 to P37; Burger Yum, from P25 to P26; and one-piece Chicken Joy with rice, from P57 to P58.
On April 15, Jollibee's sister company Chowking will follow suit.
Chowking said that their food products' prices are estimated to rise between one and two percent.
Price hike in flour
They said the price hike is due to the rise in the prices of flour, which is a main ingredient for noodles and siopao, and meat.
Odie dela Cruz of Chowking's Marketing Department said that the food chain also shares the burden in the price hikes.
Jollibee's other sister companies such as Greenwich, Red Ribbon, and Delifrance are also studying possible price hikes.
Smaller food chains are also experiencing problems due to the rise in prices of raw ingredients, but they said they are trying not to raise prices so as not to deter consumers.
Due to the price hikes, consumers said they understand that the fastfood chains also need to adjust to the rising prices of raw ingredients. With reports from Charo Logarta and Paul Henson, ABS-CBN News