Value menu

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A value menu is a group of items on a fast food restaurant menu that are, in the US, usually priced priced in the $1.00 to $1.49 range. In non-U.S. markets, a value menu typically has prices set to reflect the approximate value of one U.S. dollar. The value menu is unique in that the items are usually priced lower than most of the other items on the menu. The portion size or number of included items with the food are usually but not always related to the price. The consumer ultimately decides what to get based on what the menu offers and consumer preference, and the value menu appeals sometimes to those that desire a quick meal without other products such as beverages and other side items that are included in full meals that necessarily increase the overall price.

Wendy's is generally credited with being the first fast food chain to offer a value menu in October 1989, with every item priced at $0.99. ^[1]^[2]^[3] In 1988 Taco Bell lowered the prices of all new items and launched the first three-tiered pricing strategy and free drink refills^[4]. Burger King added a value menu in 1998 with items priced at 99¢ (USD).^[5] In 2002 and 2006, BK revamped its value menu adding and removing several different products and changing the price from 99¢ to a dollar per item, then changing it again to everything starting at a dollar.^[6] Many of these items have since been discontinued, modified or relegated to a regional menu option.^[7] After numerous attempts, experimenting with a variety of menus and pricing strategies, McDonald's successfully launched its first national value menu, the Dollar Menu in October 2002.

The move to adoption of value menus can be considered as a response to the changing preferences of consumers of fast food and a response to other economic factors such as the prices of other goods like gasoline as well as consumer income. Higher gasoline prices can mean that consumers may spend less at the drive-through than they otherwise would. Value menus may also be an example of loss leaders, items sold at low or no profit in order to convince consumers to patronize the restaurant and, in so doing, also buy more profitable items such as soda pop (sold at very little cost to the restaurant). Currently, two former midtown Manhattan franchisees are suing Burger King saying that being forced to sell high-cost items at low prices has sent two of their stores into insolvency.^[3]