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McDonald’s $5 meal deal blamed for demise of french fry factory

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The biggest french fry supplier to McDonald’s has blamed the chain’s $5 meal deal for its factory closure and job losses.

Lamb Weston, the largest producer of fries in North America, announced earlier this month that it is closing a factory in Washington and laying off nearly 400 employees.

Boss Thomas Werner said that demand for fries is falling because of smaller portion sizes included in discount deals. Burger King and Wendy’s have near-identical $5 meals too.

‘Many of these promotional meal deals have consumers trading down from a medium fry to a small fry,’ he said on an earnings call earlier this month.

McDonald’s initially launched its $5 value meal as a summer promotion in June, but has extended it to Christmas due to high demand from cash-strapped customers.

‘The extension of the $5 Meal Deal, and the other offerings we’re announcing for our fall line-up, are just a few of the ways we’re working hard to offer great meals at a fair price,’ Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald’s USA, said in September.

Erlinger confirmed that McDonald’s created the deal after he ‘zig-zagged the country’ and participated in focus groups with its customers.

‘They’ve felt the stress of the inflation over the last few years, and so this is a great opportunity for McDonald’s to bring them value,’ Erlinger said.

The meal consists of a McDouble or McChicken, a four-piece portion of chicken nuggets, a small drink, and – crucially – a small portion of fries.

‘Meal deals with smaller fries portions are certainly part of the problem,’ Neil Saunders, Managing Director of GlobalData Retail, told DailyMail.com.

‘Individually this doesn’t make much difference, but across the hundreds of millions of transactions within fast food this has a massive impact on volumes.

‘The other problem alongside this is people dining out less which is also impacting the volume of fries sold.’

McDonald’s is Lamb Weston’s largest customer, accounting for 13 percent of its sales, according to CNN.

As well as fully shutting down the Washington factory, Lamb Weston also announced it was temporarily cutting production at its other plants due to the slowing of customer demand.

Following several years of price rises, many fast food giants, including McDonald’s, have begun to offer value deals in a bid to win back customers.

McDonald’s suffered a surprise fall in sales in the April to June quarter, dragged down by fewer customers visiting the chain.

Around 80 percent of french fries consumed in the US come from fast-food chains, according to Lamb Weston

 

Following several years of price rises, many fast food giants, including McDonald’s, have begun to offer value deals in a bid to win back cash-strapped customers

 

It was the first sales decline since 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic shuttered stores and millions stayed home.

According to Lamb Weston, around 80 percent of french fries consumed in the US come from fast-food chains – which means it is also exposed to declining foot fall at other restaurants.

Customer traffic to fast-food chains dropped 2 percent last quarter and 3 percent the previous quarter compared to the same time last year, the producer said.

It comes amid reports activist investor Jana Partners is pushing Lamb Weston to explore a sale.

Lamb Weston shares jumped around 8 percent in early trading on the news from The Wall Street Journal.

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FCCPC Urges Nigerians to Report Harassing Loan Apps and Businesses

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The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) is advising Nigerians to report any loan apps or businesses that engage in harassing behavior over unpaid loans.

According to the FCCPC, no consumer should live in fear of harassment or intimidation.

Ekwutosblog  gathered that Consumers can file complaints with the FCCPC through their website or contact their customer service hotline.

The FCCPC is responsible for protecting consumer rights and promoting fair competition in Nigeria.

FCCPC has taken steps to regulate digital money lenders and enforce consumer protection laws, including fining Meta and WhatsApp $220 million for violating the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) and the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR)

To file a complaint, follow these steps
Visit the FCCPC website and fill out the complaint form. Provide detailed information about the harassment, including dates, times, and communication records. Submit supporting documents, such as screenshots or messages.   FCCPC Website: https://fccpc.gov.ng/   Customer Service Hotline: 0805 600 2020, 0805 600 3030
Email: mailto:contact@fccpc.gov.ng

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Chief Vincent Obianodo is the Founder of Young Shall Grow Group, a leading transportation company in Nigeria.

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Chief Vincent was Born in Neni, Anambra State, He spent his early life in his hometown after which he moved to Kano state where He learnt how to fix punctured tyres (vulcanizer), and became perfect at it (a time when few people could do it), because of it he had a lot of customers queuing for his vulcanizing services.

He did the job for more few years before he decided to go into the transportation business as a bus conductor. He continued the bus conductor job until 1972 when he had gathered enough money to buy his bus. After acquiring maximum knowledge on how the transportation business works, he then decided to stop working as a bus conductor and he acquired a mini-bus to ply the Enugu to Onitsha route.

In 1973 he relocated his business operations from Onitsha to Lagos and ventured into a more developed transport business, which he started with two locally built Mercedes Benz 911 buses. After seven years of operating in Lagos, the number of buses he owned increased from 2 to 40 alongside his transport business. He also engaged in the delivery of goods which also boosted the success of his business.

His exceptional customer service delivery got many people to patronize his business and by 1978, he decided to expand by opening up a new interstate route, plying from Lagos to Onitsha to Owerri. He also bought a Mercedes Benz 0362 luxury bus for this purpose. This expansion gained his business more fame and within 6 years, his number of buses grew to 150. Owing to the success of the business, Chief Vincent Incorporated his business in 1984 so he could fully cover every possible part of Nigeria, as a leading inter-state luxury bus company.

Today, The Young Shall Grow Motors is one of the largest luxury bus companies in Nigeria with over 500 buses that ply almost every route in Nigeria as well as other west African countries like Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali and The Benin Republic.

He also has businesses in the Hospitality, Oil and Gas, Real estate sectors.

From Vulcanizer to millionaire in dollars, today his net worth is over 300 million dollars.

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Dangote refinery, NNPC: More fuel stations increase pump price in Nigeria

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The price of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as fuel, has recorded a significant increase in the past days, which may worsen the economic hardship Nigerians face.

MRS, a filling station partner of Dangote Refinery, kicked off the latest fuel price increase when it adjusted its petrol pump to between N925 and N950 per litre in Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Similarly, other fuel marketers such as Empire Energy, Recoil, Juda Oil, Total, Emedab, and others also increased their fuel pump to between N950 and N970 per litre.

On Wednesday, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited retail outlets also jacked up their fuel price to N950 per litre from N880 in Abuja.

Summarily, Ekwutosblog observed motorists will have to pay N70 more to buy a litre of petrol in the coming days.

The development comes amid the suspension of petrol product sales in Naira by Dangote Refinery. This follows the initiation of the naira-for-crude sale deal between Dangote Refinery and the federal government through NNPCL.

On Wednesday, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced a reshuffling of NNPCL.

Meanwhile, local oil prices are increasing in Nigeria, despite the decline in global crude prices. As of the time of this report, United States West Texas Intermediate was at $62.15 per barrel, down from above $65, while Brent crude stood at $65.42 per barrel, down from $72 last week.

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