• by Teresa Buyikian , 6 hours ago

As QSRs compete with one another for who has the best meal deal, a recent Dataessentials report discovered an interesting contradiction: fast-food restaurants are both increasing the number of combo meal offerings and raising prices on the same bundled meals.

The “State of Value” report reveals that despite these seemingly counterintuitive findings, there may be “deeper market dynamics at play.”

The report found that in 2025 QSRs have increased meal deal introductions by 79% year-to-date as compared to 2024. The same meals have experienced a 14% increase in pricing. And despite the average cost of a meal deal now being $8.40, the data revealed that there is a clear value perception shift when a meal is over $5. Meals above $5 had significantly lower value ratings, no matter what or how many items are included.

QSRs may be increasing the cost of meals bundles, but other restaurant categories aren’t following suit. In 2025 fast-casual restaurant meal deals have actually decreased in price by 2% over 2024, leading the report to surmise that these kinds of chains “are using restaurant combo meals as traffic drivers rather than margin builders.” Casual dining meal deal costs have actually decreased 14%, while midscale chains increased meal deal prices by 1%.

The report also highlighted that successful combo meals offered choice options along with value, as customization is becoming increasingly important to QSR consumers.

Based on the findings, key takeaways include that QSR operators have more flexibility to raise restaurant combo meal prices, “if they’re adding genuine value through choice and customization.” The report recommends that “foodservice professionals need to balance the tension between margin requirements and value perception.”

And as restaurant meal deal pricing increases, “success depends heavily on execution and customer choice.” The brands that will come out on top are “creating value experiences that justify their price points while still delivering on the fundamental promise of restaurant combo meals: more for less.”