Burger King’s largest franchise cuts chicken nugget count as prices surge

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN Business

Chicken nuggets have fallen victim to rising prices.

Burger King’s largest franchisee in the United States said Thursday that it will soon reduce the number of nuggets in meals from ten pieces to 8. Carrols Restaurant Group, which operates 14% of Burger Kings’ roughly 7,000 US locations, told investors Thursday that the change will “partially offset inflation” without deterring customers because the price will remain the same.

It’s part of broader menu changes initiated by Carrols late last year to combat increasing food and labor costs. Carrols removed the Whopper from the discounted meals menu, which includes the 2 for $6 deal. The Burger King franchise also reduced the number of discounts it offers, and it hiked menu prices on some items. Carrols plans to hike some prices again this year.

The changes follow many other fast food rivals, including Domino’s. Last month, the pizza chain said it’s cutting the number of wings in its $7.99 carry out offer from 10 pieces to just eight because of inflation.

In addition to getting less, customers have been paying more. Little Caesars recently raised the price of its signature Hot-N-Ready pizza, Chipotle has hiked prices and as well as Starbucks and McDonald’s.

Customers have remained largely unfazed. Carrols said sales at its Burger King locations rose more than 7% during the fourth quarter. Similarly, McDonald’s recently said sales at its US restaurants open at least 13 months jumped 13.8%, last year, the largest annual increase since McDonald’s started reporting comparable sales in 1993.

In 2021, restaurant prices rose 6% according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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