Almost two million orders are served per day in 1,500 McDonald’s restaurants in France. And just as many burgers and fries.

However, and you’ve probably noticed, you don’t pay for your Big Mac at the same price everywhere. If inflation has indeed pushed prices up, it has nothing to do with the mystery of the difference in pricing between brands.

Actu.fr sought to understand why.

Not a story about cities

Don’t panic. No one offers McChickens, CBOs and other 280s for twice what any other brand can.

But important differences are still noticeable. For Big Mac e.g, the cheapest in France is located in Vincennes, in Val-de-Marne, at a price of 4.45 euros the sandwich, according to the index determined by The Parisian.

The most expensive, sold in around 30 restaurants including Dijon Nord-Est, costs 6.90 euros. Either way 2.45 euro difference while the recipe, bread, salad, steaks, pickles, cheese and secret sauce (504 calories total), does not change.

Nothing to do with the city, because in Lyon, for example, the famous burger costs between 4.85 and 5.70 euros. No, this is a story about owners.

A franchise story

Contacted by news.fr, the fast food chain explains to us how the prices are determined.

McDonald’s France is a brand run by a network of tenant managers, true independent business leaders. Each operator is free to choose its pricing policy, which depends on a number of factors.

Among the factors that explain the different prices, McDonald’s mentions “the type of restaurant [centre-ville, périphérie, taille, ndlr.]upland [zone d’influence d’un magasin sur un territoire géographique, ndlr.]the field of competition or the costs of the service providers they use for the proper functioning of their restaurant”.

Among the expenses is the newreusable service, mandatory since 1 January 2023 represents a new cost.

Inflation drove prices up

If the prices are different from one restaurant to another, they have indeed increased because inflation on certain banners which were affected by the increase in the prices of raw materials and energy.

But management defends itself against an increase that has occurred “in terms that are much lower than their supplies”, ensuring that “everything is done to continue to offer our customers attractive and accessible prices despite this unusual context.

Attractive prices therefore, but different according to the restaurants.

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