In-N-Out CEO Lynsey Snyder has pledged to protect prices at the West Coast's favorite burger chain.
Snyder said in a new interview with TODAY: NBC Today The private company will not see drastic price increases in California after the state's new minimum wage law. The Fast Act took effect April 1, giving fast food workers a starting wage of $20 an hour, up from the previous standard of $16.
“I would sit in VP meetings saying, ‘We can't raise prices that much, we just can't,'” Snyder said. “Because I felt such an obligation to look out for our customers.”
Snyder also said the company will not explore mobile ordering options because they hinder the customer service experience. It also expressed its unwillingness to franchise or become a publicly traded company.
An In-N-Out location in Los Angeles recently raised burger prices by 25 cents and drinks by 5 cents, New York Post mentioned.
McDonald's and Chipotle managers announce price hikes
Snyder's insistence that In-N-Out will not raise prices is a departure from the approach some competitors took after the Fast Act took effect.
On a conference call in November, McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski said the company would increase prices to offset wage increases, in addition to cutting restaurant costs and improving productivity.
“There's definitely going to be a short-term hit to the cash flow of franchisees in California,” Kempczinski said. “It's hard to know exactly what that hit will be because of some of the mitigation efforts. But there will be a hit.”
On a Chipotle conference call that month, CFO Jack Hartung said the Mexican barbecue chain expected to increase prices in California by “mid- to high-single digits” but clarified that a “final decision” had not yet been made.
Late last year, two major Pizza Hut operators announced plans to lay off more than 1,200 delivery drivers in the state before the Fast Act goes into effect, according to Interested in trade.
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