Gepubliceerd op 2026-10-02
The same Whopper costs $9.40 at one Adelaide Hungry Jack's and $10.80 at another
As fast food pricing becomes more data-driven, Drive Thru Index compared the pickup prices of the same items at 96 restaurants of two chains in Greater Adelaide. Within each chain, prices for the same item differ by up to 15% from one restaurant to the next.
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De belangrijkste feiten
- Hungry Jack's Whopper: $9.40 to $10.80 (+15%)Cheapest in Fulham, SA, dearest in Mt Barker, SA; median $9.90, the same as Hungry Jack's Australian median.
- McDonald's Big Mac: $7.85 to $8.95 (+14%)Cheapest in Trinity Gardens, SA, dearest in Mount Barker, SA; median $8.45, the same as McDonald's Australian median.
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.
Hungry Jack's: a Whopper costs $9.40 at two Hungry Jack's restaurants in Fulham and Gawler, SA and $10.80 at the Hungry Jack's in Mt Barker, SA, $1.40 (15%) more. Across its 40 restaurants in Greater Adelaide, the median is $9.90, the same as Hungry Jack's Australian median of $9.90.
McDonald's: a Big Mac costs $7.85 at the McDonald's in Trinity Gardens, SA and $8.95 at three McDonald's restaurants in Mount Barker and Frewville, SA, $1.10 (14%) more. Across its 56 restaurants in Greater Adelaide, the median is $8.45, the same as McDonald's Australian median of $8.45. At the airport in Adelaide, SA, it costs $9.20.
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.
“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.
Citeerbare zinnen
The same Hungry Jack's Whopper costs $9.40 in Fulham, SA but $10.80 in Mt Barker, SA.
The same McDonald's Big Mac costs $7.85 in Trinity Gardens, SA but $8.95 in Mount Barker, SA.
Afbeeldingen
De feiten achter het persbericht
Elk cijfer komt uit onze prijzen van 2026-10-01, met de pagina op deze site waar het staat.
| Cijfer | Waarde | Waar te zien |
|---|---|---|
| Hungry Jack's Whopper: $9.40 to $10.80 (+15%) | Cheapest in Fulham, SA, dearest in Mt Barker, SA; median $9.90, the same as Hungry Jack's Australian median. | Bekijk de pagina |
| McDonald's Big Mac: $7.85 to $8.95 (+14%) | Cheapest in Trinity Gardens, SA, dearest in Mount Barker, SA; median $8.45, the same as McDonald's Australian median. | Bekijk de pagina |
| Goedkoopste Hungry Jack's Whopper (restaurants) | $9.40 (2) | Fulham, SA, Gawler, SA |
| Duurste Hungry Jack's Whopper (restaurants) | $10.80 (1) | Mt Barker, SA |
| Goedkoopste McDonald's Big Mac (restaurants) | $7.85 (1) | Trinity Gardens, SA |
| Duurste McDonald's Big Mac (restaurants) | $8.95 (3) | Frewville, SA, Mount Barker, SA, Mount Barker, SA |
| Duurste in totaal (airport) | $9.20 (1) | Adelaide, SA |
Methode, over ons en contact
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 1 October 2026, in Australian dollars. The area covers restaurants within 40 km of the city centre of Adelaide, each restaurant counted in its nearest city. Each chain is compared only with itself, on its own signature item, and only where it has at least 5 restaurants in the area; prices are never compared between chains or converted between currencies. The cheapest and dearest restaurants leave out airports and similar special sites, which are reported separately.
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
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Geen onderdeel van het persbericht: berichtgeving die de ene contextzin onderbouwt, voor vragen van journalisten.
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