After backlash, Wendy’s now says it will not roll out ‘surge pricing’

Wendy’s is trying to clarify – or put a different spin on what its CEO meant when he told investors that the fast-food giant would introduce “dynamic pricing” to its menus.

“Surge pricing” is not in the cards, the company now insists.

During the Feb. 15 earnings call, Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner said, “Beginning as early as 2025, we will begin testing more enhanced features like dynamic pricing and daypart offerings, along with AI-enabled menu changes and suggestive selling.”

“As we continue to show the benefit of this technology in our company-operated restaurants, franchisee interest in digital menu boards should increase, further supporting sales and profit growth across the system,” Tanner told investors.

The public, analysts, and news media outlets interpreted Tanner’s statement to mean Wendy’s would increase or decrease prices based on demand, similar to rideshare services like Uber.

The “dynamic pricing” plan angered many customers.

“I will dynamically go somewhere else,” Mike Milovich posted on Facebook.

“It’s time for customers to fight back. Maybe we should start making ‘dynamic payments’ depending on how long our food took, how clean the restaurant is, or even what time of day we visited,” Alejandro De La Parra wrote.

The swift backlash has apparently prompted Wendy’s to pivot the CEO’s message.

“Wendy’s will not implement surge pricing, which is the practice of raising prices when demand is highest. We didn’t use that phrase, nor do we plan to implement that practice,” the company said in a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The company said that any features it decides to test in the future “would be designed to benefit our customers and restaurant crew members.”

Wendy’s Co. plans to invest about $20 million to launch digital menu boards at all of its U.S. company-run restaurants by the end of 2025. It also plans to invest approximately $10 million over the next two years to support digital menu enhancements globally.

Wendy’s said that its digital menu boards “could allow us to change the menu offerings at different times of day and offer discounts and value offers to our customers more easily, particularly in the slower times of day.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.