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McDonald's, Burger King push chicken as beef prices soar

Kevin Chupka
·Executive Producer/Writer

The price of beef is on the rise. For your average grocery shopper, it obviously means you’re paying more for that Sunday roast. For companies like McDonald’s (MCD) and Burger King (QSR), that live and die by the price of the meat, it means squeezed profits.

It’s no wonder then that the two big name burger slingers are casually pushing chicken instead.

Nation’s Restaurant News, which follows such things, notes that McDonald’s has brought back its chicken selects and Burger King its chicken fries, both of which had previously been kicked off the respective menus.

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Restaurant News, citing government data, says beef prices have risen 19% year over year, leaving the fast food chains with little choice but to push poultry.

“These guys are in the business of running very low margin, high volume businesses,” says Yahoo Finance Senior Columnist Michael Santoli, “and they’re going to basically steer you with their promotions.”

So who is benefitting from the rise in prices? Fast food chicken purveyor Chi-fil-a is certainly one candidate. Still, as Yahoo Finance Editor-in-Chief Andy Serwer points out, chicken consumption in America has been growing for a long time. It surpassed beef several years ago. “It does mean less money for the burger guys,” he says, even before you factor in rising beef prices.

Related: 10 ways to 'fix' McDonald's (if it needs fixing, that is)

But fear not for McDonald’s and Burger King. Most beef watchers think the price of the meat will start ticking lower over the next several months. While the price doesn’t fluctuate the way other edible commodities do (corn, for example, can rise and fall quickly) there is hope that beef will again be the food of choice for your fast food executives.

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