California-based fast food restaurants have hiked the price of menu items by as much as 8% in response to the $20-an-hour minimum wage law that went into effect April 1, according to a report.
Wendy’s raised its menu prices by around 8% while Chipotle Mexican Grill hiked its prices by approximately 7.5%, according to a report by Kalinowski Equity Research.
Starbucks, the Seattle-based coffee chain, raised the prices of its menu items at its California locations by around 7%, while Taco Bell hiked its prices 3%, the report found.
Burger King raised its menu prices by 2%.
Kalinowski Equity Research did a comparison of prices at 25 restaurants for each chain.
It also did a side-by-side comparison of where prices stood as of Feb. 15 and April 2 at 25 Burger King locations throughout the state.
It found that Burger King instituted an average price increase of 1.4% for its Whopper Meal and 2.1% for its BK Royal Crispy Chicken Meal at the 25 locations.
The report’s authors did the same for Chipotle, which was found to have boosted the price of its Chicken Burrito by 8.3% and its Steak Burrito by 7% at 25 locations in California between Feb. 7 and April 2.
According to the report, Chipotle, which operates roughly 500 restaurants in California, boosted the median price of the Chicken Burrito by 6.8% and 5.7%.
A typical Chicken Burrito from a California Chipotle will now cost $10.25, while the average price of a Steak Burrito will set you back $12.
The report examined the price differential for two Starbucks menu items at 20 California locations — the Venti Iced Caramel Macchiato and the Venti Caffe Latte.
Between Feb. 9 and April 1, the average price of a Venti Iced Caramel Macchiato rose 7.2%, according to the report.
The average price increase for a Venti Caffe Latte was around 7%.
Wendy’s also instituted substantial price hikes on staple menu items such as Dave’s Combo and the Classic Chicken Sandwich Combo.
In a comparison of prices from Feb. 12 and April 2 at 25 Wendy’s stores in California, the company raised the price of both items by an average of 8%.
McDonald’s appears to be the only fast food chain that has largely held off on raising its menu item prices, according to the report.
In a side-by-side comparison of prices at 25 McDonald’s locations in California between Feb. 8 and April 3, the average price of a McCrispy Meal was up by just 0.7% while the average price change of a Big Mac Meal actually fell by 0.1%.
The Post has sought comment from McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, Starbucks, Chipotle and Taco Bell.
