The Very Official McDonalds (and other fast food outlets) Thread

all new Phil · Wed 21 Mar, 2018 07.57

james2001 wrote: Wed 21 Mar, 2018 00.50 Well, it's certainly habit changing, as I won't be going there any more. I'll go somewhere where I can still get the drinks I like without being charged over the odds for rip-off bottles, or being nannied into diet drinks I can't stand. Which obviously doesn't include Pizza Hut, Subway or TGI Fridays any more.

Maybe they should have thought this law through and how to implement it properly rather than just yanking people's choice away without warning (and offering a bottle at an inflated price compared to the dispensed version isn't "choice").

Yeah sod the health benefits to the nation.

You’re going to struggle to find somewhere where you aren’t paying more for sugary drinks or “nannied” into diet drinks you can’t stand. Sugary drinks are being taxed more. I know based on your DS posts that you are completely anti anything this government does, but at least try and look at the bigger picture and why they are doing this, rather than whining about how it will affect you when you’re in Pizza Hut.

Martin Phillp · Wed 21 Mar, 2018 11.17

The sugar tax is one of the few things this Government have got completely right, along with plastic bag charges.

I've always found the refillable fizzy soft drinks in Pizza Hut a bad idea, especially for kids. PH have come up with a reasonable solution to allow them for diet drinks which have less sugar content.

Personally I haven't had a fizzy drink in over 10 years and feel a lot better for it.

WillPS · Wed 21 Mar, 2018 12.34

My local Ember Inn only does Diet Pepsi and Pepsi Max now. All the people I know who normally insist on full sugar whine a bit then have a Pepsi Max, so it's clearly having the desired effect.

Martin Phillp · Wed 21 Mar, 2018 12.40

How will the sugar tax be implemented in for example greasy spoon cafes which currently don't charge for sugar?

bilky asko · Wed 21 Mar, 2018 14.56

Alexia, you have very good taste in diet fizzy drinks.

I love all the new diet flavours. Diet Coke / Coke Zero with Peach, Mango, or Fiesty Cherry; Sprite with Cucumber...

dosxuk · Wed 21 Mar, 2018 18.24

Alexia wrote: Wed 21 Mar, 2018 04.45 Off the top of my head the only other places that offer bottomless soft drinks are Nando's, Harvester, Toby Carvery, Beefeater, Hungry Horse possibly.... but there's a possibility those could follow suit soon...... so get used to the idea because I don't think it's going away.

Here's what Nando's are doing...

tillyoshea · Wed 21 Mar, 2018 18.47

Fuller's switched all of their 400ish pubs over to Pepsi Max on draught and regular Pepsi only available in bottles 18 months or so ago - and no-one really seemed to notice, let alone bother (even though they press-released it and you'd think it would be a great tabloid 'nannying' story).

But I agree that a sugar tax is a "good thing" - and can even try and claim a tiny sliver of credit for its introduction having co-written the paper where the Chief Medical Officer first came out in (tentative) support a few years ago.

Alexia · Wed 21 Mar, 2018 19.34

Martin Phillp wrote: Wed 21 Mar, 2018 12.40 How will the sugar tax be implemented in for example greasy spoon cafes which currently don't charge for sugar?

It won't be. It's not a tax on the consumer it's a tax on the producer.

WillPS · Wed 21 Mar, 2018 20.11

Martin Phillp wrote: Wed 21 Mar, 2018 12.40 How will the sugar tax be implemented in for example greasy spoon cafes which currently don't charge for sugar?

It only applies to fizzy pop.

rdobbie · Wed 21 Mar, 2018 20.30

james2001 wrote: Tue 20 Mar, 2018 23.55 Bit annoyed to discover Pizza Hut have changed it so that you can now only get diet drinks with refills, if you want a regular Pepsi you have to buy a bottle- which costs about 40p more for a single glass than the unlimited refills cost, and you can't add the extra flavours you could with the refill machine- which is one of the things I enjoyed at Pizza Hut.

KFC had a notice up saying Pepsi (their only remaining sugared drink option, Tango and 7-Up are now only in diet variants) will attract an extra 10p from April.

A newly opened Burger King near me has got a self serve Coca-Cola Freestyle machine which, if you haven't tried one yet, is an incredibly exciting revolution in the world of soft drinks (Burger Lad has a write up here). I don't know how they're going to implement a two tier pricing system with that.

Regarding Pizza Hut, I think there's a lot of smoke and mirrors going on here. The sugar itself is acutally a bigger overhead than the sugar tax, whereas the cost of artifical sweetener is negligible. This is why all the 17p supermarket value range 2 litre bottles of lemonade/cola have always been sugar free, but the cheapest sugared alternative in the core range is well over double the price. The difference in price is literally the sugar itself. Hence sugar free variants have always been vastly more profitable and companies have wanted to push them.

Alexia · Wed 21 Mar, 2018 21.39

bilky asko wrote: Wed 21 Mar, 2018 14.56 Alexia, you have very good taste in diet fizzy drinks.

I love all the new diet flavours. Diet Coke / Coke Zero with Peach, Mango, or Fiesty Cherry; Sprite with Cucumber...

Sorry, I missed this in all the waah-waahing. Thankyou - and I'm quite pleased that him-over-the-road stocks both of those Cokes... I don't like cherry so I'll be missing that, but I'm intrigued by this cucumber Sprite.