I was at Maccas the other day and paid $3.45 for a small Fanta. I noticed that in the USA, the same size drink costs only US$1 (A$1.45).
Why are we paying so much for soft drinks here?
Why Are Maccas Soft Drinks Such a Rip off in Australia?
Comments
Can I get a large melted frozen fanta
They have frozen Fanta too don't they? Silly me, didn't think of it.
Just went to my local Maccas - no frozen Fanta (nor Sprite, my 2nd choice). Not a big Coke fan.
they have frozen flavours, grapes us nice
yep mine always only has frozen coke and i hate it
"My friend asked me if I wanted a frozen banana. I said "No, but I want a regular banana later so…. Yeah." - Mitch Hedberg
To incentivise you into buying a meal. McDonald's must have spent millions by now on learning the psychology of customers looking at their menu and choosing what to buy. Also you have to remember minimum wage in the US is only $US7.25 an hour. Minimum wage for casual workers in Australia is $AU26.73 per hour. So a soda in America is %13.8 of their hourly minimum wage, and in Australia it is %12.9 of our hourly minimum wage, so it's a little cheaper here really.
The kid making the drink or burger is getting $11 per hour in Australia
What matters is the person buying the drink is making $26.73 an hour, or $21.38 if they are lucky enough to be employed on a permanent basis.
I appreciate your point but plenty of people earning less than that who aren't casual and also plenty of 16/17/18 year old kids getting stuff from maccas as well.
@EFC94: Permanent employees get other benefits, like paid sick days. And in the US teens are also paid less than their minimum wage, so that point is moot.
actually not everyone buying the drink is employed as im only on a carers pension
US minimum wage varies by state, from a maximum of $15 in California to $7.25 at the lowest. To compare to Australia you'd have to find the average of all the US states.
I don't know if McDonald's prices vary by state/municpality (other than by taxes) or are broadly standard across the US. It could be McDonald's prices their stuff for the lowest common denominator.
I am currently in the US and yes McDonald's prices vary depending on where you are in the States. I'm some cases very dramatically.
In Nevada last week I could get a Big Mac meal for $12usd. In Seattle the same meal was nearly $16USD. However in Tennessee we are down below 8USD.
Just worked it out cos I was bored - average is US$9.85 (A$14.22) across 50 states, excluding DC.
not for 14 year olds wage wouldn’t be $26
You not meant to buy them by single item. Maccas the one who came up with 'value meal'.
It’s one of the biggest money makers for fast food places. Cost next to nothing per cup and people get it with almost every order.
As a stand alone product it isn’t sold much, it’s usually packaged in a meal of sorts. They don’t care if it’s a rip off because:
1) people will still pay it.
2) it doesn’t affect them in the slightest even if people knock it back due to price.All fast food places are a rip off for individual items usually anyway.. thats why they package meal deals, to give perceived value.
I noticed that in the USA, the same size drink costs only US$1 (A$1.45).
The US obesity prevalence was 41.9% in 2017 – March 2020.
I am appalled… that we do not get the 30 ounce soft drink size that Americans get.
That's because we use the metric system here
Look at the brain on Flagger…
Kids Meal - $4.95 - $5.45 (depending on location) gets you a Cheese Burger + Small Chips + Small Drink. I think it is better value than just a small Fanta.
They don't let you upgrade the small drink in the kids meal to a large frappe anymore, at least not in the Uber Eats app.
Either Apple juice or water only
I went to McDonalds wanting 10 pc nuggets and a drink (no fries). Buying a 10pc nugget meal would cost the same as buying the nuggets + drink separately.
To trick you to get a McDonald Meal and feel good about it
3.45 Drink vs 12 MealThey want you to spend more!
Shows $3.15 on the mcrappy app.
For me it shows $3.45 on the app. Price must vary by location (my closest is Malvern in VIC). Odd.
They vary by store. I’ve got two McDonald’s within 5km and one is about 2-5% cheaper than the other. Everything from burgers to fries to drinks is a different price.
same as my 2 stores ..1 charges $0.75 for crap soft serve and the other is $0.80 as well as everything else on their is more expensive too
Coca Cola Europe needs to get back that 10billion it paid for Coca-Cola Amatil.
Hot drinks are expensive, cups are expensive.Yet can get a KFC meal with a pepsi brand can for $6 3-4months a year thanks to Yum Brands.
Coca Cola Europe aren't the beneficiaries of Maccas charging $3 for a small drink.
I would have just gone to nearest gas station to get soft drinks with deals
See my comment below regarding the McD drinks tasting better/fresher than canned/bottled. Also not cheaper at petrol stations, if anything it's more there.
Restaurants in general all over the world overcharge for drinks.
But I just said that this drink costs $1 in the US (I'm also betting that their "small" is larger than our small). That isn't over-charging.
Their small is like our medium. Their large is like a mop bucket.
About 10 years ago a bloke in the know told me that a large frozen coke cost price was 5c.
Can't imagine its increased much since then.
Simple solution! Dont buy the drink at maccas! True ozbargainers buy their soft drinks in bulk when on special, then bring them with u when ur on the go!
I buy drinks at Maccas because they taste better. The soft drink mixers they use, along with the filtered water, give it a better taste than the bottled/canned equivalent. There are numerous articles out there on the web - search and you'll see they all agree it tastes better at Maccas.
Go get a few drinks from 5 local maccas and they all taste different. The sweetness, flavoring and co2 never the right mix,
They go to Woolies and get the big bottles and chill them at home instead, don't know why OP is whinging he chose to pay the absurd price 🤷
My local Woolies doesn't sell Fanta. I kid you not. It's one of the few supermarkets I've been to that don't sell it - it's not a "Metro" either.
You can 'complain' to the store manager and they will stock it after a few times.
There's a way to get them back. Order a Fanta - no ice!
You'll get at least $0.30 rather than $0.05 worth.
All soft drink is an enormous rip off at food places or bars. It's all syrup mixed with water. The syrup costs nothing, literally cents per litre. The markup on it is like 5000%
My opinion says….. Everything is probably a rip off at Maccas, they still say they sell 'Food'.
The do apparently have the best preservatives on the planet.
There’s a anomaly- buying junk calories at Maccas and worried about getting ripped off.
I thought that that was the whole point of those places.
Corn starch, fat and sugar with seasoning mmmmm…..When I was last in the US, in 2012, a slab of 24 cans of Coke were USD$6-something on special at the supermarket, stacked up in a pyramid like we see in the movies. I'll never forget it. The AUD was about 10c over the USD back then too!
If you want to compare with the US, you need to take into account soft drinks in US fast food joints are re-fillable — you take the cup to the vending machine and refill as much/often as you want.
And in a number of restaurants a person comes over and refills your cup for free.
maybe get a frozen coke for a dollar…..