As most ‘civilians’ know, the Fast Food sector has been suffering from chronic uncertainty. Compet-ition has never been so intense. And the big names, especially, have been concentrating on ‘value messaging’ to entice customers. Now, Fast Food franchisees are on the verge of rebelling…
At the same time, the pricing of Fast Food menu items has taken a steep upswing. And consumers are reluctant to accept what the restos are trying to convince us is ‘the new norm’.
One move the big brands have started making is setting single, cross-chain prices for certain menu items – such as seasonal and themed specials. That has burrowed deep under the skins of fran-chisees who have been leaning on their accustomed freedom to set menu prices to suit economic realities. We’re all familiar with the conditional tag line on many Fast Food ads: ‘Prices may vary according to location’.
New standards
“The company rolled out new franchise standards for McDonald’s operators on January 1, including assessing locations on how their prices deliver value,” CNBC reports. “McDonald’s said its owners are still able to set their own prices, but the standards nonetheless shape and define how franchisees — which operate 95 percent of McDonald’s restaurants — run their stores.”
Needless to say, franchisees are none to happy about the head office becoming more intrusive in their affairs…
Meanwhile… “The National Owners Association, an independent franchisee advocate group, adopted a Franchisee Bill of Rights in August and circulated it in an email to members last month as the standards took effect.”
A line in the sand?
Some might say circulating the Bill of Rights is akin to drawing a line in the sand, warning all the corporate Fast Food heads to lay off their franchisees.
The final article in the Bill states: “Franchisees, as independent Owner/Operators, have the right to set menu prices for their restaurants based on their own business judgment and market conditions. This right exists irrespective of the pricing decisions of any national, regional, or local co-op or franchisor initiative. Franchisees must be free to manage their pricing strategy without fear of intimidation, or diminished support from McDonald’s or its affiliated entities.”
My take
It’s strong language. And it immediately put me in mind of the US Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all [franchisees] are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the discretion to set their own menu prices.”
As Winston Churchill cautioned, at the end of the Blitz, in summer, 1941: “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning…”
Maggie J.