Five Guys CEO made point to customers as he addressed why restaurant charges so much for burger and chips
If you've ever been in a Five Guys you might have noticed that its prices are a little on the high side.
Some people reckon it's quite pricey to buy a burger and fries from there and might just go into another burger joint and get a whole meal for about half the cost.
On the other hand, you are getting some pretty f**king good food for the extra expense so if it's a case of which burger you'd enjoy more that might justify it for you.
People complaining about the price of Five Guys is nothing new, but the company has explained that it bases its prices on the cost of the ingredients rather than trying to absorb any sudden price rises for some of their stuff.
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"We raise our prices to reflect whatever our food costs are," Five Guys founder Jerry Murrell said.
So, if the mayonnaise guy triples his price, we pay triple for the mayonnaise.
"And then we'll increase the price of our product."
On the other hand, sticking a s**t ton of toppings on your burger doesn't cost you more and Five Guys gives you an extra dollop of fries with your meal too.
Five Guys now boasts nearly 1,700 branches across the world and there's another 1,500 units in development, showing the success of Murrell's sales strategy, so it's clearly working.
As for another reason why Five Guys charges what it does, its UK CEO John Eckbert had an answer.
According to the Standard, Eckbert explained that he saw Five Guys in a particular market that people had already demonstrated they'd pay for.
He said: "Five Guys is an important player in the premium burger space, but now there are lots of players in that market. And some are super fancy, some have a particular take on what makes a burger."
The UK CEO said the company is 'really careful about tripping some psychological barrier in pricing' but reckoned that it hadn't got to a point where people think they're paying too much for what they're getting.
He called Five Guys an 'affordable luxury' and reckoned it was a good space to occupy.
Topics: Five Guys, Money, Food And Drink, Business
Joe Harker