Veröffentlicht am 2026-10-12
Same chain, different price across the UK: Domino's Original Cheese & Tomato (medium) varies by 53% between restaurants
As fast food pricing becomes more data-driven, Drive Thru Index compared what six chains charge at each of their own restaurants in the UK, on 12 October 2026. The gap between a chain's cheapest and dearest restaurant is at most 53%; in the US, the price of a McDonald's Big Mac varies by 125%.
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Die wichtigsten Fakten
- Greggs Sausage Roll: £1.35 to £1.70A 26% spread across 2,133 restaurants; 89% charge £1.35.
- Domino's Original Cheese & Tomato (medium): £14.99 to £22.99A 53% spread across 1,338 restaurants; 41% charge £19.99.
- KFC Zinger Burger: £5.99 to £6.99A 17% spread across 898 restaurants; 88% charge £5.99.
- McDonald's Big Mac: £4.79 to £6.29A 31% spread across 596 restaurants; 19% charge £5.49.
- Big Mac in the US: 125% from the cheapest restaurant to the dearestAcross 13,657 McDonald's restaurants; percentages only, prices are never converted.
Fast food chains are collecting more and more data about their customers through mobile apps and loyalty programmes: accounts with their details, and what they order and when. They are also experimenting with AI and data-driven pricing. Meanwhile the same item can cost very different amounts from one restaurant to the next, and customers cannot see why. Drive Thru Index publishes every restaurant's real price, every day, so anyone can check.
Across its 2,133 restaurants, Greggs' Sausage Roll costs from £1.35 (1907 restaurants) to £1.70 (108 restaurants): the dearest charges 26% more than the cheapest, and 89% charge the typical £1.35. The same basket of five items costs from £10.95 to £13.70, a spread of 25%.
Across its 1,338 restaurants, Domino's Original Cheese & Tomato (medium) costs from £14.99 (14 restaurants) to £22.99 (18 restaurants): the dearest charges 53% more than the cheapest, and 41% charge the typical £19.99. The same basket of four items costs from £39.32 to £55.61, a spread of 41%.
Across its 898 restaurants, KFC's Zinger Burger costs from £5.99 (791 restaurants) to £6.99 (51 restaurants): the dearest charges 17% more than the cheapest, and 88% charge the typical £5.99. The same basket of five items costs from £19.85 to £23.25, a spread of 17%.
Across its 596 restaurants, McDonald's Big Mac costs from £4.79 (2 restaurants) to £6.29 (4 restaurants): the dearest charges 31% more than the cheapest, and 19% charge the typical £5.49. The same basket of five items costs from £19.85 to £25.05, a spread of 26%.
Every one of Nando's 486 restaurants charges £5.95 for the 1/4 Chicken. The same basket of four items costs from £22.15 to £22.40, a spread of 1%.
Across its 359 restaurants, Pizza Hut's Margherita (large, handcrafted) costs from £19.49 (304 restaurants) to £25.98 (55 restaurants): the dearest charges 33% more than the cheapest, and 85% charge the typical £19.49. The same basket of four items costs from £32.46 to £39.25, a spread of 21%.
In the US, by contrast, the dearest ordinary McDonald's charges 125% more for a Big Mac than the cheapest, across 13,657 restaurants. Only the percentages are compared: prices are never converted between currencies.
Anthony Gherghetta, an Australian software developer who built Drive Thru Index, started it after reading some of the buzz about AI being used to set fast food prices: he wanted to see whether it was true, and how big the price differences between restaurants really were. Prices bear out the contrast he noticed. In Australia, 97% of McDonald's restaurants charge within 10% of the typical Big Mac price; in the US, 53% do. The gap between the cheapest and the dearest tenth of restaurants is 10% of the typical price in Australia and 33% in the US. In the UK, 94% of McDonald's locations, the biggest chain tracked there, charge within 10% of its typical Big Mac price.
“I kept reading that fast food chains were starting to use AI and customer data to set prices, so I wanted to see if it was true and how big the differences really were. In Australia, where I’m from, a Big Mac costs much the same wherever you buy it. In the US the price changes from one restaurant to the next. Fast food apps now know what you order, when and where, but customers can’t see how prices are set. So I built Drive Thru Index to check every restaurant, every day,” said Gherghetta.
Zitierfähige Sätze
Greggs' Sausage Roll costs 26% more at its dearest restaurant in the UK than at its cheapest.
Domino's Original Cheese & Tomato (medium) costs 53% more at its dearest restaurant in the UK than at its cheapest.
KFC's Zinger Burger costs 17% more at its dearest restaurant in the UK than at its cheapest.
McDonald's Big Mac costs 31% more at its dearest restaurant in the UK than at its cheapest.
Bilder
Die Fakten hinter der Mitteilung
Jede Zahl stammt aus unseren Preisen vom 2026-10-12, jeweils mit der Seite dieser Website, auf der sie zu finden ist.
| Kennzahl | Wert | Zu finden auf |
|---|---|---|
| Greggs Sausage Roll: £1.35 to £1.70 | A 26% spread across 2,133 restaurants; 89% charge £1.35. | Zur Seite |
| Domino's Original Cheese & Tomato (medium): £14.99 to £22.99 | A 53% spread across 1,338 restaurants; 41% charge £19.99. | Zur Seite |
| KFC Zinger Burger: £5.99 to £6.99 | A 17% spread across 898 restaurants; 88% charge £5.99. | Zur Seite |
| McDonald's Big Mac: £4.79 to £6.29 | A 31% spread across 596 restaurants; 19% charge £5.49. | Zur Seite |
| Big Mac in the US: 125% from the cheapest restaurant to the dearest | Across 13,657 McDonald's restaurants; percentages only, prices are never converted. | Zur Seite |
| Greggs Sausage Roll, am günstigsten (Restaurants) | £1.35 (1.907) | Abbey Wood, England |
| Greggs Sausage Roll, am teuersten (Restaurants) | £1.70 (108) | Alnwick, England |
| Teuerste Bestellung (Restaurants) | £13.70 (108) | Alnwick, England |
| Domino's Original Cheese & Tomato (medium), am günstigsten (Restaurants) | £14.99 (14) | Carluke, Scotland |
| Domino's Original Cheese & Tomato (medium), am teuersten (Restaurants) | £22.99 (18) | Bedworth, England |
| Teuerste Bestellung (Restaurants) | £55.61 (1) | London, England |
| KFC Zinger Burger, am günstigsten (Restaurants) | £5.99 (791) | Aberdare, Wales |
| KFC Zinger Burger, am teuersten (Restaurants) | £6.99 (51) | Ardley, Bicester, England |
| Teuerste Bestellung (Restaurants) | £23.25 (50) | Ardley, Bicester, England |
| McDonald's Big Mac, am günstigsten (Restaurants) | £4.79 (2) | Oswestry, England |
| McDonald's Big Mac, am teuersten (Restaurants) | £6.29 (4) | Broadstairs, England |
| Teuerste Bestellung (Restaurants) | £25.05 (2) | Huntington, England |
| Nando's 1/4 Chicken, am günstigsten (Restaurants) | £5.95 (486) | Aberdeen City, Scotland |
| Nando's 1/4 Chicken, am teuersten (Restaurants) | £5.95 (486) | Aberdeen City, Scotland |
| Teuerste Bestellung (Restaurants) | £22.40 (36) | Buckinghamshire, England |
| Pizza Hut Margherita (large, handcrafted), am günstigsten (Restaurants) | £19.49 (304) | 169 Wakefield Road, England |
| Pizza Hut Margherita (large, handcrafted), am teuersten (Restaurants) | £25.98 (55) | 11 First Level Mall, Scotland |
| Teuerste Bestellung (Restaurants) | £39.25 (51) | 11 First Level Mall, Scotland |
Methodik, über uns und Kontakt
Drive Thru Index reads every restaurant's menu from each chain's own ordering app every day; these are the latest pickup prices collected on or before 12 October 2026, in pounds sterling. A chain's spread is how much more its dearest restaurant charges than its cheapest, as a share of the cheapest price, for its signature item and for the same basket of items; chains with fewer than 5 restaurants priced are left out. Airports, stadiums and similar sites are left out, and so are prices below 40% or above 250% of a chain's typical price, which are almost always menu errors. Each chain is compared only with itself, and another country is compared by percentages alone: prices are never converted between currencies.
About Drive Thru Index: Drive Thru Index (drivethruindex.com) publishes the menu price of every item at every restaurant of the biggest fast food brands, collected each day from the chains' own ordering apps. As pricing becomes more data-driven, it exists so that customers can see what each restaurant really charges and how it compares with others nearby. It covers the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, Spain, Mexico and the Netherlands. Brands are only compared with themselves, and prices are never converted between currencies. Its figures are free to quote with attribution: "Source: Drive Thru Index".
The images with this release are free to use with the credit "Image: Drive Thru Index (drivethruindex.com)".
Media contact: anthony@drivethruindex.com
Hintergrundquellen
Nicht Teil der Mitteilung: Berichte, die die eine Zeile Kontext darin belegen, für Rückfragen von Journalistinnen und Journalisten.
- How restaurant loyalty programs can drive more traffic and improve experiences Restaurant Dive, 2024-08-15
Restaurant loyalty apps pull in customers' ordering history and preferences, to personalise offers and recommendations (the intro's apps and loyalty programmes). - Wendy's backtracks on dynamic pricing Restaurant Dive, 2024-02-28
Wendy's told investors it would test dynamic and AI-enabled pricing on digital menu boards from 2025, then said after a backlash that it would not raise prices at the busiest times (the intro's experiments with data-driven pricing). - Inside McDonald's push to have AI price your Big Mac CNBC, 2026-09-29
Reports a Reuters investigation into an AI tool that recommends menu prices to McDonald's restaurants; McDonald's says franchisees remain free to set their own prices. Not quoted in the release text; the page could not be fetched to check its wording, only its search listing.