Fast food prices are on the rise in the Czech Republic

Soaring inflation has led to price increases in most sectors of the Czech Republic, and the fast food industry is no exception. Prices at some of the country's most popular fast food chains have risen significantly in 2022, reports ČTK.

McDonald's Czech Republic has upped prices twice so far this year. The cost of a standard cheeseburger now comes in at 42 crowns, up from 33 crowns last year, an increase of more than 25 percent.

KFC has also upped their prices this year, with the cost of a cheeseburger as well as the least expensive chicken sandwich now coming in at 43 crowns. Both McDonald's and KFC have more than 100 locations in the Czech Republic.

According to Ivana Dlouhá Makalová, director of KFC Czech Republic, prices have risen this year due to a number of factors including soaring energy costs, rising costs of raw materials, and wage increases owing to a lack of potential employees on the labor market.

"This year we proceeded to increase the prices of selected chicken dishes, and at the moment it is very difficult to estimate in which direction the situation will continue to develop," she tells ČTK.

According to the most recent Big Mac Index, a survey published by The Economist twice per year that compares the price of McDonald's signature burger in countries across the world, the Czech crown was 22 percent undervalued in July. The cost of a Big Mac in the Czech Republic was 95 crowns, compared to $5.15 (about 126 crowns) in the United States.

Since July, however, the price of a Big Mac has risen to 99 crowns in the Czech Republic - the second price increase for the burger this year. In 2021, McDonald's locations in the country earned 6.9 billion crowns, a year-on-year increase of 19 percent.

In the United Kingdom, McDonald's recently increased the cost of a cheeseburger for the first time in 14 years, crossing the one pound mark for the first time and reaching 1.19 pounds.

In the Czech Republic, meanwhile, the cost of a a cheeseburger has more than doubled in that time frame, rising from 20 crowns in 2012 to 42 crowns in 2022.

While the Czech crown is still undervalued compared the the dollar according to the Big Mac Index, it's quickly catching up to the pound. At 99 crowns, a Czech Big Mac now costs nearly as much as its UK counterpart, which runs 3.69 pounds (about 106 crowns at current exchange rates).