Why A Half-Sized Chick-Fil-A Sandwich Has Fans Fuming
Chick-fil-A has some of the most loyal customers in the fast food business, as a Brand Keys loyalty survey showed in 2019 (via Restaurant Dive). However, that loyalty isn't necessarily guaranteed, and with some customers recently expressing frustration over smaller portion sizes and reduced overall quality, it seems the chain may potentially be at risk of losing some of their once-loyal customers.
One customer and former employee was so disappointed with the tiny Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich they received during a recent visit that they took to the social media site Reddit to vent. "Really chick fil a? I worked for the company for 4 years. This is not standards at all and I'm getting tired of how frequently this is happening," u/Bugfue captioned a picture of a small, thin chicken filet, adding, "We spend our hard earned money to be met with this?" Many other Reddit users responded by sharing similar experiences. "That's what my Chick-fil-A usually looks like too it's disappointing because the chicken used to be so thick," u/Elijah0330 replied. "Becoming more and more common it seems. Ridiculous because a sandwich costs almost $5 now!" agreed another user.
Rising inflation has been impacting the restaurant industry
Some users suggested that global factors, such as the coronavirus pandemic and supply chain issues, played a big part in the diminished size and quality of Chick-fil-A's products, while others blamed shrinkflation. Shrinkflation is an economic term that refers to the practice of keeping the price of an item the same, but decreasing its size, quantity, or quality in order to cut costs, according to the Corporate Finance Institute (CFI). Shrinkflation is a type of inflation, which has been an ongoing problem in the United States, especially in the restaurant industry, with inflation rates rising 7.5% in January of 2022, the highest it has been since 1982, via CNBC.
While rising inflation may account for Chick-fil-A's reduced portion sizes, some fans of the chain still insisted serving this type of sandwich was not acceptable. "Weird. Every chick fil a is supposed to test/rate the food twice a day to make sure stuff like bun coverage, done-ness, etc. are all up to par. something like this would fail instantly," u/arentech said, before advising the OP to "try contacting the operator."
With prices increasing and quality dropping, it seems like Chick-fil-A may be running the risk of driving away some frustrated customers who no longer feel that they are getting their money's worth.