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The same Big Mac costs $7.70 at one Melbourne McDonald's and $8.95 at another
As fast food pricing becomes more data-driven, Drive Thru Index compared the pickup prices of the same items at 433 restaurants of four chains in Greater Melbourne. Within each chain, prices for the same item differ by up to 16% from one restaurant to the next.
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- McDonald's Big Mac: $7.70 to $8.95 (+16%)Cheapest in Keilor North, VIC, dearest in Williams Landing, VIC; median $8.20, 3% below McDonald's Australian median.
- Hungry Jack's Whopper: $9.20 to $10.40 (+13%)Cheapest in Croydon, VIC, dearest in Truganina, VIC; median $9.60, 3% below Hungry Jack's Australian median.
- Red Rooster Quarter Chicken: $7.75 to $8.75 (+13%)Cheapest in Hoppers Crossing, VIC, dearest in Docklands, VIC; median $7.75, the same as Red Rooster's Australian median.
- KFC Zinger Burger: $7.95 to $8.45 (+6%)Cheapest in Chadstone, VIC, dearest in Melbourne, VIC; median $8.45, the same as KFC'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.
McDonald's: a Big Mac costs $7.70 at the McDonald's in Keilor North, VIC and $8.95 at the McDonald's in Williams Landing, VIC, $1.25 (16%) more. Across its 175 restaurants in Greater Melbourne, the median is $8.20, 3% below McDonald's Australian median of $8.45.
Hungry Jack's: a Whopper costs $9.20 at five Hungry Jack's restaurants in Croydon, Footscray, Keilor Downs, Mill Park and Pascoe Vale South, VIC and $10.40 at the Hungry Jack's in Truganina, VIC, $1.20 (13%) more. Across its 74 restaurants in Greater Melbourne, the median is $9.60, 3% below Hungry Jack's Australian median of $9.90. At the airport in Melbourne Int. Airport, VIC, it costs $11.20.
Red Rooster: a Quarter Chicken costs $7.75 at 31 Red Rooster restaurants in Hoppers Crossing, Airport West, Altona Meadows, Ascot Vale, Box Hill, Campbellfield, Chirnside Park, Coburg, Craigieburn, Dandenong, Deer Park, Derrimut, Eumemmerring, Ferntree Gully, Gladstone Park, Greensborough, Greenvale, Hampton Park, Melton, Mount Waverley, Narre Warre, Nth Frankston, Port Melbourne, Preston, Rowville, South Morang, Sunshine, Surrey Hills, Sydenham and Templestowe Lower, VIC and $8.75 at the Red Rooster in Docklands, VIC, $1.00 (13%) more. Across its 43 restaurants in Greater Melbourne, the median is $7.75, the same as Red Rooster's Australian median of $7.75.
KFC: a Zinger Burger costs $7.95 at two KFC restaurants in Chadstone and Cheltenham, VIC and $8.45 at 138 KFC restaurants in Melbourne, Dandenong, Epping, Glen Waverley, Tarneit, Werribee, Broadmeadows, Carlton, Chirnside Park, Clayton, Craigieburn, Docklands, Doncaster, Hoppers Crossing, Keysborough, Maribyrnong, Melton West, Preston, Richmond, Ringwood, Scoresby, Springvale, Sunbury, Sunshine, Taylors Lakes, Wantirna, Wollert, Altona North, Ashburton, Balwyn, Bayswater North, Box Hill, Brighton East, Brimbank, Bundoora, Burwood East, Calder Park, Campbellfield, Caroline Springs, Carrum Downs, Caulfield East, Chelsea, Coburg, Collingwood, Dandenong South, Deer Park, Doreen, Eltham, Endeavour Hills, Fawkner, Ferntree Gully, Flemington, Footscray, Forest Hill, Fountain Gate, Frankston, Greensborough, Greenvale, Hallam, Hawthorn, Heidelberg, Highett, Keilor, Keilor North, Kew, Laverton, Lilydale, Lynbrook, Malvern, Mambourin, Manor Lakes, Melton, Melton South, Mentone, Mickleham, Mill Park, Moonee Ponds, Mooroolbark, Narre Warren, Niddrie, Noble Park, Nunawading, Oakleigh, Ormond, Point Cook, Prahran, Reservoir, Rowville, Roxburgh Park, South Morang, Southbank, St Kilda, Taylors Hill, Thomastown, Thornbury, Truganina, Tullamarine, Vermont, Wantirna South, Whittlesea, Wyndham Vale and Yarraville, VIC, $0.50 (6%) more. Across its 141 restaurants in Greater Melbourne, the median is $8.45, the same as KFC's Australian median of $8.45.
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.
Cita, pendiente de aprobación“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.
Frases para citar
The same McDonald's Big Mac costs $7.70 in Keilor North, VIC but $8.95 in Williams Landing, VIC.
The same Hungry Jack's Whopper costs $9.20 in Croydon, VIC but $10.40 in Truganina, VIC.
The same Red Rooster Quarter Chicken costs $7.75 in Hoppers Crossing, VIC but $8.75 in Docklands, VIC.
The same KFC Zinger Burger costs $7.95 in Chadstone, VIC but $8.45 in Melbourne, VIC.
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Metodología, quiénes somos y contacto
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 Melbourne, 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: {{press_contact_email}}
Fuentes de contexto
No forma parte de la nota: información que respalda su única frase de contexto, para preguntas de periodistas.
- 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.