Fast food popular suffers adjustments

The strategy of the major fast-food chains in the country, selling sandwiches to a few real, has been instrumental in increasing sales, especially in periods of economic downturn. But she is changing.
Created to increase traffic and ensure lower income consumer sales, affordable policy of McDonald 's, since 2009, Burger King and, from 2011, faces reaju-stes-table reflects the escalation of costs and margin protection. The model is more flexible to continue bringing results to the networks.
Since January 2013, McDonald 's, operated in Brazil by the Group Arcos Dorados, promoted three price increases in promotional products, a rate higher than the verified since the creation of the strategy "great pleasures, Small prices," in 2009. The network Burger King, in turn, with the action "Irresistible Prices" has made releases in a higher price range.
In the case of McDonald 's, the set of five basic offerings (such as cheesburguer, small French fries and small sundae), the unit price of R $ 3.50 in 2012, was r $ 4 in January 2013; $ 4.50 in December; and in may 2014, has already reached $ 5, informs the company on their website. Therefore, a high of 43% between 2012 and 2014. For two years, between 2009 and 2011, the company kept each product in R $ 3, competing directly with the informal trade of food in the streets-this type of retail grows in periods in which the income is stagnant and the economy gives signs of cooling, as the current.
Controlled by Vinci Partners and 3 g Capital, Burger King has done deals with higher prices than in the past. The network launched new products this year to $ 6.50, and current promotions sandwiches do not exceed R $ 5.50. The company informed that began to serve a new campaign bacon sandwich (small size) to $ 6.50. Is the second product in this year placed a price above the price level of promotions.
In October 2012, the network launched a set of sandwiches, plus a portion of French fries and a small dessert (ice cream), priced at $ 5 each. At the beginning of 2014, one year and four months later, the value was for $ 5.50, up 10%.
Burger King, in a statement, reports that "in recent years, the price adjustments carried out in restaurants were in line with the average inflation of the period". The company is satisfied with "high rate of return".
"The networks need to have input prices to bring new customers to the base and not to lose that consumers who still want to spend, but lost income. The point is that companies need to do that in a moment of high real estate costs and labor. "There's no way it will hold these pressures for a long time," says Alcides de Mattos Terra Júnior, a consultant and former Executive of McDonald 's. For him, the companies live a dilemma: If reset prices in a more forceful manner, may lose sales. And in negotiations with suppliers, if they don't have scale, may lose the advantage.
High prices at retail is directly related to margin recovery or transfer of increase in cost of products sold. "Food and cardboard were having high, led by meat costs [after periods of drought]. What happened is that this [the increase] happen more abruptly than thought. Let's try to balance this pressure in 2014, "he said in may, investors, Germán Lemonnier, Chief Financial Officer of Arcos Dorados. He also cited higher labor costs. Sergio Alonso, Chief Operating Officer of Arcos Dorados, said in May that the launch of new promotions, like the Triple Cheeseburger (which between 2012 and 2013 had increased in price from 20 percent) helped the company to "overcome" the weak sales environment in Brazil, where organic revenue rose 10% between January and March.