The billionaire president of In-N-Out says she went “toe-to-toe” in high-stakes company meetings to keep costs low as California’s fast food industry sees menu prices soar amid inflation and the Golden State’s new minimum wage hike.
Lynsi Snyder, who took over the family-owned burger chain at just 27 in 2010, has guided her company through inflation and the increase in minimum wage, all while keeping menu prices low and profits up.
“I was sitting in VP meetings going toe-to-toe saying ‘we can’t raise the prices that much, we can’t,’” Snyder said Wednesday during an interview with TODAY. “I felt such an obligation to look out for our customer.”
Snyder, now 41, said the company wasn’t interested in following their competition’s decisions to increase the prices for a quick buck.
“When everyone else was taking these jumps we weren’t,” she added.
A new California minimum wage law, which went into effect April 1st, saw several fast food restaurants hiking up their menu prices to counteract the new wages.
The bill, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last fall, requires fast-food chains in the state with over 60 locations nationwide to pay workers at least $20 an hour, more than the $16 minimum wage in all other industries in the state.
At a Los Angeles Burger King, a Double Texas Whopper saw a nearly 12% increase from $15.09 to $16.89 in a few days.
The same store’s Big Fish had a 53%, or $4 jump from $7.49 to $11.49, The Post reported.
As In-N-Out’s nearby competitors drastically raised their prices, one of Snyder’s LA restaurants only increased its burger prices by 25 cents and drink prices had a bump that only cost an extra nickel.
“It’s such a nominal increase,” customer Shawn Fields told The Post earlier this month.
“It seems like a reasonable amount.”
Snyder said she also didn’t follow other chains when they leaped into the digital fast food age, another decision she says was made with patrons in mind.
“No to mobile ordering because that greatly impacts the customer service experience.
“There’s a lot of things that could be cheaper, easier, but that’s not the system we go through.”
The restaurant has been anti-mobile ordering for nearly a decade including when then-start-up DoorDash attempted to deliver In-N-Out meals to potential customers, a move that angered the higher-ups.
The burger chain sued the delivery app claiming it didn’t trust third-party services to handle the food, TMZ reported in 2015.
She also shared that she regularly receives messages and calls asking for In-N-Out to be sold or to start an IPO, which she reportedly will continue to say no.
“We’re a family company, we’re a private company and this is who we are and I’m unashamed of my faith,” Snyder said about the chain’s packaging that includes Bible Verses.
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