Mark Myers, KFC franchise operator, says the fast-food chain's costs have ballooned 15.5 per cent year to date. - File

KFC Jamaica has tacked an overall 10 per cent increase on to its prices across the 31-store fast-food chain, saying the move was linked to a six per cent decline of the Jamaican dollar for the calendar year to date.

But Mark Myers, managing director of Restaurants of Jamaica, the KFC franchise holder, says his company is also grappling with an overall 15.5 per cent increase in raw-material inputs - including a 37 per cent increase in flour prices and an 8.0 per cent rise in poultry meat.

Second increase

The chicken price increase at KFC, its second in about seven months, took effect Tuesday with Myers - who noted that he had held back on the increases until now - suggesting that the declining purchasing power of the local currency had forced his hand.

The dollar has fallen from $67.16 to the U.S. at the top of the year to $71.33 on Monday in spot trading. The 10-day moving average was estimated at $71.30, also reflecting a more than six per cent decline year to date. KFC last increased prices in April, then adding five per cent to its meal board.

Itemising his costs, Myers said the raw materials plus world movements in the price of oil, now hovering about the US$95 per barrel mark, have sent operating costs higher.

"All of these factors have a negative impact on KFC's production costs and it is especially worrying that prices continue to rise," said Myers, whose family has operated the KFC franchise for more than three decades.

The company's first response, he said, was to boost internal efficiencies. The passthrough to customers, he added, was a last resort driven by the level of input price increases both on KFC's local and international purchases.

business@gleanerjm.com