Here’s why fast food prices just got even cheaper

If you’re a fast food fan, we have some good news for you. You can now get even more food for less money. A price war has been going on between many of the big fast food chains, and here’s why:

Fast food companies target lower-income customers (and people who just love fast food). The companies are really good at throwing deal after deal at their customers, hoping the loyal ones will stay loyal. Because with so many fast food chains offering crazy deals, restaurants need to do what they can to insure that loyalty. And that happens by lowering the price of food.

According to research done by investment bank Cowen and Company, while customers are expected to be saving more money due to lower gas prices, falling unemployment and rising minimum wages, commodity prices are no longer rising.  So as “forecasts for key restaurant commodities including beef, chicken, pork, dairy and wheat are in-line to below long term averages,” restaurants are taking advantage of the lower costs to entice people to come to their stores, according to the report.

As a “thank you to guests”, McDonald’s announced that starting February 29 in the U.S., it will offer four of its most iconic menu items on a value menu. That includes the Big Mac, a 10-piece order of crispy Chicken McNuggets, golden Filet-O-Fish and the Quarter Pounder with Cheese. Customers can mix and match any two of the items for only $5 for a limited time.

McDonald’s isn’t the only chain offering a lot of food for a really low price for a limited time. Wendy’s is offering a four for $4 deal, which includes a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger, 4-piece nuggets, fries and a drink. Burger King is offering an even cheaper deal where customers can get five items for $5, including a bacon cheeseburger, crispy chicken nuggets, small fries, small drink and a chocolate chip cookie. Carl’s Jr. offers the $4 Real Deal, and Pizza Hut is offering a $5 flavor menu.

“All the major chains have jumped on the dollar pricing in an effort to maintain share against competitors,” according to Darren Tristano, president of restaurant consultancy Technomic.

And fast food lovers have some opinions about it: