Watch out for McPrice rises

There are three things in life you can’t get away from. Two are death and taxes, but the third? How about high prices at motorway service areas?
I was on my way back up from a jaunt down to Shakespeare country on Sunday and pit-stopped at the Moto services at Castle Donington to feed some tired, hungry mouths.
Frankly, I was more likely to die of a heart attack than hunger: wandering up to the fresh food counter I homed in on an egg-and-cress sarnie as an inexpensive filler.
Filler yes, inexpensive no. For two slices of bread, a smear of marge and a dollop of filling I was invited to handover a thumping great £3.69.
But I didn’t go hungry. Unfortunately for this particular fresh food franchise, I wandered off to the Marks and Spencer shop inside the same Moto services. There I found another egg and cress sandwich – a rather good one, as it happens – for only £1.50.
Now, the principle of charging what the market will bear is as old as the hills, and motorway service areas are legendary in their commitment to serving up grim food at outrageous prices because they’ve got a captive market.
This wasn’t grim food, but it was an outrageous price, and it suggests to me someone at this particular franchise needs to wake up to what’s going on underneath their own noses (unsold egg and cress sandwiches might be a pungent clue).
Actually, I think all of us should be on our guard about prices because the rising cost of the raw materials behind food and petrol mean shops will be trying all sorts of crafty ruses to push them up.
Keep an eye on McDonald’s, for one. I read at the weekend that they’ve hired an organisation that glories in the name of Revenue Management Solutions to examine customer price-sensitivities in different geographies.
What does that mean? It means they’re going to try charging different prices for the same burger in different parts of the country.
Fair dinkum - milk, beef and bread are all getting more expensive. But a North-South divide on burgers is a new one on me.
Top marks, though, to the man who runs the golden arches in the UK. Asked why he wanted to bring in variable prices, Steve Easterbrook responded: “The one-size-fits-all approach can hamstring you.”