"From Hamburgers to Pizza" Franchise Industry's Second Wave of Price Increases

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Eun-mo] Franchise companies such as pizza and hamburger chains continue to raise their prices.

According to the industry on the 13th, Domino's Pizza implemented a price increase on all pizza products starting from the 12th. This is the second time following the increase in January.

Large size pizzas increased by 1,000 KRW, medium size pizzas by 500 KRW, prices of five side menu items including spaghetti and chicken rose by 1,000 KRW each, and prices of six beverage items increased by 200 KRW each. Accordingly, the representative menu, Super Deluxe Pizza large size, rose from 27,900 KRW to 28,900 KRW, and the Black Tiger Shrimp Signature large size increased from 35,900 KRW to 36,900 KRW.

The pizza industry had already raised prices once earlier this year citing the rise in international wheat prices. Pizza Hut raised prices of some menu items by 1,000 KRW in March, Pizza Alvolo increased prices by 1,000 to 2,000 KRW in February, and Mr. Pizza raised prices of all products by 2,000 KRW.

Hamburger companies are also joining the second round of price hikes. Mom's Touch raised prices on a total of 50 products including burgers and chicken starting from the 4th of this month. The price increases cover 23 types of burgers, 20 types of chicken, and 7 types of side menus. The increase amounts are 200 KRW for burgers, 1,000 KRW for chicken, and 100 to 400 KRW for side menus.

Mom's Touch explained that this price increase was an unavoidable measure due to continuous rises in global raw material procurement costs and was finalized after sufficient consultation with multiple franchisee associations. This is the first time Mom's Touch has raised prices in six months since February.

Mom's Touch is not the only hamburger franchise to raise product prices more than twice within half a year. Burger King raised prices on 46 products by an average of 4.5% last month. This is an additional increase about six months after raising prices on 33 products by an average of 2.9% in January. By product, the representative Whopper increased from 6,400 KRW to 6,900 KRW, the Long Chicken Burger from 4,400 KRW to 4,600 KRW, and the Whopper Junior from 4,400 KRW to 4,600 KRW.

KFC also raised prices on some menu items by 200 to 400 KRW starting from the 12th. This is the second increase after raising prices by 100 to 200 KRW on some items such as the Zinger Burger and Original Chicken in January this year. The popular Zinger Burger rose from 4,900 KRW to 5,300 KRW, and the Original Chicken increased from 2,700 KRW to 2,900 KRW per piece. The price of Original Chicken has risen about 16% in roughly half a year since December last year when it was 2,500 KRW.