Businesses often have to compensate for a failed policy pushed by Democrats.
This time there was a surprising silver lining for fast food fans.
And McDonald’s brought one fan favorite back to the menu after a bad move by Democrats.
California hikes the minimum wage on fast food restaurants
A new law went into effect in California that raised the minimum wage for fast food workers from $16 an hour to $20.
Fast food chains are scrambling to be able to figure out a way to deal with the spike in the cost of their labor.
Some chains have cut hours, begun investing in automation to replace workers or raised prices.
The potential solution for the biggest fast-food restaurant in the world was to bring back a popular menu item.
McDonald’s brings back bagels to overcome California’s new minimum wage law
Bagels were removed from the breakfast menu at McDonald’s during the pandemic in 2020 despite their popularity with fans.
Now the chain is bringing them back to California to help franchisees reeling from the state’s minimum wage hike.
“Bagel sandwiches — a fan-favorite breakfast item — have been reintroduced at McDonald’s locations in California as part of a plan to boost store traffic. The burger chain is also spending $15 million on local advertising, even though it’s rare for the company to invest in promoting its products in a single state,” Bloomberg reported.
The minimum wage hike is estimated to cost each store in California about $250,000.
Many of California’s McDonald’s franchisees didn’t want to raise prices to offset the higher labor costs from the law.
Inflation-weary customers are increasingly skipping fast food because it’s too expensive.
McDonald’s corporate developed a team called “Rise and Dominate” to help California franchisees come up with a strategy to overcome the higher costs of the new minimum wage.
“This team has gathered best practices from around the world where municipalities have managed wage increases and will pilot innovative short- and long-term solutions for California,” McDonald’s said in a statement.
That plan included the return of bagels to the breakfast menu as a way to entice customers into stores.
Bagels were already being reintroduced in locations across the country with sales skyrocketing.
“I am hearing from operators who just rolled out that they are selling more bagels in one day than an entire week five years ago,” a McDonald’s franchisee told the New York Post. “That is crazy, nostalgia is real.”
Fans can pick between bacon, egg, and cheese; sausage, egg, and cheese; steak, egg, and cheese; egg and cheese or a plain bagel at participating locations.
The cult following around McDonald’s bagel sandwiches sparked a Facebook page that boasted more than 12,000 participants who tracked locations across the country that are carrying them.
California’s new minimum wage law is forcing businesses to get creative to stay afloat.
