The price of fast food restaurants in California has surged after the state imposed a $20 minimum wage law.
According to an analysis from Kalinowski Equity Research, fast-food restaurants across the Golden State have hiked prices by around eight percent since the law went into effect at the beginning of this month.
The New York Post reports:
Wendy’s raised its menu prices by around 8% while Chipotle Mexican Grill hiked its prices by approximately 7.5%. Starbucks, the Seattle-based coffee chain, raised the prices of its menu items at its California locations by around 7%, while Taco Bell hiked its prices 3%, the report found.
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It found that Burger King instituted an average price increase of 1.4% for its Whopper Meal and 2.1% for its BK Royal Crispy Chicken Meal at the 25 locations. The report’s authors did the same for Chipotle, which was found to have boosted the price of its Chicken Burrito by 8.3% and its Steak Burrito by 7% at 25 locations in California between Feb. 7 and April 2.
Wendy’s also instituted substantial price hikes on staple menu items such as Dave’s Combo and the Classic Chicken Sandwich Combo. In a comparison of prices from Feb. 12 and April 2 at 25 Wendy’s stores in California, the company raised the price of both items by an average of 8%. McDonald’s appears to be the only fast food chain that has largely held off on raising its menu item prices, according to the report.
As previously reported by The Gateway Pundit, many restaurants have also been forced to lay off thousands of workers as the cost of hiring them became unaffordable. Among these are Pizza Hut and Round Table Pizza, both of whom have confirmed they will be laying off 1,280 delivery drivers over the course of this year.
Meanwhile, some restuarants are using the wage hike as an opportunity to accelerate their transition to automated service, which will lead to even more job losses over the coming months and years.
