

A box of McNuggets will now set you back 8RMB.

Fast food chains in China are ushering in the Year of the Dragon by raising their prices.

Starbucks announced that it was raising its prices with effect from today — milk products by 1RMB, coffee items by 2RMB and hot chocolate by 3RMB. This is the coffee chain’s first price increase since 2007.

Pizza Hut also said it was raising the price of its afternoon tea by 3RMB. Its parent company, Yum Brands, said no price increases were currently being planned for the 3,200 KFC outlets across China because KFC’s last price increase was just four months ago.

Meanwhile, McDonalds is set to raise prices for the fifth time in two years. Citing the pressures of rising food and rental costs, McDonalds said it would increase the prices of some of the items on its menu by between 0.5 and 2 RMB. With the changes, a 5-piece box of McNuggets now costs 1 kuai more at 8RMB, and a Big Mac 18.5RMB, up from 17.5RMB previously.

McCafe, the coffee-house-style chain owned by McDonalds and a key competitor of Starbucks, has also followed suit by upping its prices.

China’s food Inflation accelerated to 9.1 per cent in December, up from November’s 8.8 per cent. Food costs account for up to half of monthly spending for the poor.



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