Featured Image Credit: Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images
Topics: Five Guys, Food And Drink, Money
Brenna Cooper
Topics: Five Guys, Food And Drink, Money
It's no secret the cost of living has skyrocketed over the past couple of years.
From the price of essentials such as bread and milk, luxuries like having dinner out or the infamous inflation of Freddo prices, it feels like everything costs a fortune these days.
And you're not imagining it either, with old receipts revealing that life actually was once much cheaper in the not-too-distant past.
One person recently went viral on social media after sharing a side-by-side comparison of his order from fast food restaurant Five Guys, with the cost of a bog-standard burger and fizzy drink nearly doubling over the past 14 years.
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Taking to X, the user - named Trev - revealed that his order of a plain bacon cheeseburger and regular sized drink of Coca-Cola costs him a grand total of $13.96 (£10.27).
This is $11.17 (£8.22) for the burger and an additional $2.79 (£2) for the added refreshment.
Which isn't too bad when you remember that Five Guys is on the more expensive end of the fast food restaurant scale.
However Trev then compared the cost of today's order to the same items purchased back in 2011 – and the difference is shocking.
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14 years ago, you'd pay $5.79 (£4.26) for the very same burger and $1.89 (£1.39) for the drink. Add the two together and throw in tax and you're looking at a grand total of $8.39 for your meal.
Now the increase in Coca-Cola price isn't too unreasonable, but it does mean you're paying nearly double for the exact same burger.
The revelation received a mixed reaction online, with one person calling the price increase 'outrageous' while another revealed that adding additional toppings would set you back a further three dollars.
Backlash from customers paying premium prices for their meals is something which CEO Jerry Murrell is aware of, with the owner previously addressing the reason the company prices their items this way.
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"Our food prices fluctuate," Murrell previously told Inc Magazine. "We do not base our price on anything but margins.
"We raise our prices to reflect whatever our food costs are. So, if the mayonnaise guy triples his price, we pay triple for the mayonnaise!
"And then we'll increase the price of our product."
Which is fair enough.
Burger costs aside, there's always one Five Guys product on offer which provides customers with perfect value for money.
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We are of course talking about the mountains of fries piled into every bag.
So why does Five Guys chop up an entire bag of potatoes for each customer who orders a small portion of fries?
According to Murrell's son Chad, who is one of the 'five' guys the eateries are named after, the decision allows them to stand out from competitors.
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"I won't name names, but other restaurants just don't give a satisfying amount of fries," he previously told Food Republic. "We always give an extra scoop. I say load 'em up and make sure they get their money's worth.
"I teach my managers that if people aren't complaining, then you're not giving them enough."
LADbible has approached Five Guys for further comment.