The Left has always been an enemy of 'cheap' or 'inexpensive' food. That is why they have for decades done everything they can to put 'fast food' chains out of business. They hadn't been having any success until they hit upon the idea of the 30 dollar an hour minimum wage.
They KNOW that fast food restaurants operate on thin margins and over the last 20 years, California leftists have been experimenting with different ways to destroy those margins. When they got the idea that fast-food workers deserved to be paid the same as people who do actual skilled labor, that was when they finally started to get success.
The Left KNOWS that one of the things you need to do, to control people, is to take away their food. Fast-food the left hates like a vampire hates a cross, because it's cheap and nutritious and it allows poor people to eat well (Supersize Me was a propaganda movie and completely fictional).
We are also seeing ingredient substitution, specifically cheaper proteins for higher quality and / or tastier ones.
For one example, Mrs B noted that some of Panera Bread's sandwiches are now being made with chicken, not turkey. For another, I've noticed that microwave entrees are trending to use more soy and other plant proteins to get to the grams of protein advertised on the box.
(As to why I know the latter, I travel a lot and hitting a local grocery store makes it a lot easier to control both calories and cost, than eating at restaurants all the time... And I'm asocial, and after being on a plane for hours usually want some "nobody within 20 feet" time.)
Anyway I suspect this is a general trend and if food packaging came with ingredient weights as well as just a list, we'd find increasing quantities of cheaper grains, legumes, etc. as well as proteins.
We had devastating inflation on practically a geometric progression while the Autopen was in office. Any restaurant or any packaged food manufacturer was on the horns of that dilemma. Raise the prices until the consumer flat quit or make the portions smaller. Or some combination of both. Inflation is easing but I think you will see prices come down rather than portions come back. Prices are easier to adjust. But I was just at Cheesecake Factory. A slice is still coming in at about 1000 calories so there is that.
Assuming the customer wakes up, an equilibrium will be achieved in time. When what is being supplied begins to suck, so will the demand for it. That invisible hand in economics belongs to Darwin. I love me a Quarter Pounder with cheese for $7.79 in a time when a combo meal is $11. I can live without the starch and high fructose corn syrup. But a HUNDRED GRAMSTER with cheese for $7.79? Nope. I'll stay home and grill myself 2 PBJ's.
The other day I tried to eat healthy (and cheap). Ordered just a Filet-O-Fish®. That has always come with a slice of cheese. Now it is a half slice and very, very thin. Va fangool, Mickey D.
The Left has always been an enemy of 'cheap' or 'inexpensive' food. That is why they have for decades done everything they can to put 'fast food' chains out of business. They hadn't been having any success until they hit upon the idea of the 30 dollar an hour minimum wage.
They KNOW that fast food restaurants operate on thin margins and over the last 20 years, California leftists have been experimenting with different ways to destroy those margins. When they got the idea that fast-food workers deserved to be paid the same as people who do actual skilled labor, that was when they finally started to get success.
The Left KNOWS that one of the things you need to do, to control people, is to take away their food. Fast-food the left hates like a vampire hates a cross, because it's cheap and nutritious and it allows poor people to eat well (Supersize Me was a propaganda movie and completely fictional).
We are also seeing ingredient substitution, specifically cheaper proteins for higher quality and / or tastier ones.
For one example, Mrs B noted that some of Panera Bread's sandwiches are now being made with chicken, not turkey. For another, I've noticed that microwave entrees are trending to use more soy and other plant proteins to get to the grams of protein advertised on the box.
(As to why I know the latter, I travel a lot and hitting a local grocery store makes it a lot easier to control both calories and cost, than eating at restaurants all the time... And I'm asocial, and after being on a plane for hours usually want some "nobody within 20 feet" time.)
Anyway I suspect this is a general trend and if food packaging came with ingredient weights as well as just a list, we'd find increasing quantities of cheaper grains, legumes, etc. as well as proteins.
We had devastating inflation on practically a geometric progression while the Autopen was in office. Any restaurant or any packaged food manufacturer was on the horns of that dilemma. Raise the prices until the consumer flat quit or make the portions smaller. Or some combination of both. Inflation is easing but I think you will see prices come down rather than portions come back. Prices are easier to adjust. But I was just at Cheesecake Factory. A slice is still coming in at about 1000 calories so there is that.
Assuming the customer wakes up, an equilibrium will be achieved in time. When what is being supplied begins to suck, so will the demand for it. That invisible hand in economics belongs to Darwin. I love me a Quarter Pounder with cheese for $7.79 in a time when a combo meal is $11. I can live without the starch and high fructose corn syrup. But a HUNDRED GRAMSTER with cheese for $7.79? Nope. I'll stay home and grill myself 2 PBJ's.
The other day I tried to eat healthy (and cheap). Ordered just a Filet-O-Fish®. That has always come with a slice of cheese. Now it is a half slice and very, very thin. Va fangool, Mickey D.
https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/product/filet-o-fish.html
When you see both your products and your customers as replaceable commodities, you get this. 🤷♂️