I came across this post topic just cruising for new angles on the Fast Food Value War… And the ‘con-trariness’ of the idea appealed to me. I haven’t heard of any other player turning the tables by pro-posing adding value rather than reducing prices…
Well… There is Jollybee, which recently announced a foray into the burger universe, offering a superior burger at a fair price, rather than a bargain burger at a ‘Value’ price. That approach was a major factor in their being named America’s Best Fast Food Chicken last year. That in spite of their relatively recent arrival on the North American scene. And the chain’s traditional emphasis on its native Filipino menu.
And McDonald’s did mount a fairly successful attempt at offering a ‘Better Burger’ at an ‘affordable’ price with the new Arch burger. Though we haven’t head much about it since it’s much-anticipated, noisily-fanfared release late last year…
Chick-Fil-A hears you
Perhaps phased somewhat by losing its traditional place atop the Chicken ratings, Chick-Fil-A (CFA) has announced it’s actually raising its prices a smidge, but adding value to its meal bundles by up-grading the peripherals and maintaining top-tier quality and product ‘substance’.
A cup too far?
One of the central issues fans have raised with CFA’s new approach is the upgraded cold beverage cups recently unveiled at selected CFA locationa.
They’re double-walled, like a traditional Thermos bottle, in an attempt to provide a layer of insu-lation between your hands (and the outside environment) and the beverage inside.
The new cups are intended for cold beverages – particularly milk shakes and sodas. And they’ve made an unwanted splash in the turbulent social media ocean.
“It’s such a scam!”
“Looked at the bottom of my cup today, and the inside portion which holds the beverage, isn’t nearly as big as the outside layer would make you believe,” said one user, in a new Reddit thread dedicated to the issue.
“It’s such a scam!” another exclaimed. “The ice melts just as fast and the cup is significantly smaller!”
But at least one commenter disagreed, pointing out that the new cup is the same volume as the old one. It, “isn’t some trick to pay the same for less product,” but a tech tweak designed, “to give similar insula-tion as the polystyrene cups without the environmental issues.”
I can see how some fly-off-the-handle social media whacks would immediately suspect some sort of conspiracy. But I can also the see the economic, environmental and value-added angles proposed by the latter, more level-headed commenter.
My take
Too bad CFA didn’t get a fair hearing for its new idea. Maybe it should have made a better effort to explain the concept to its fans. Pushing the ‘value-added’ angle harder, and staying ahead of the inevitable whining and complaining.
Now it will have to work twice as hard to earn fan acceptance for its new, more-sustainable, more efficient paper cups…
~ Maggie J.