(Yicai) Dec. 24 -- Fast food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken has raised its prices in China for the first time in two years, blaming the increases on higher operating costs.

KFC China increased the price of menu items by an average of 2 percent today, leading to a jump of between CNY0.50 (USD0.07) and CNY2 for most items, said Yum China Holdings, the operator of KFC’s China restaurants.

However, the fast-food chain kept the price of its highly popular combo meals, such as the ‘Crazy Thursday’ bundle, the ‘Crazy Sunday’ campaign and the children’s meals, unchanged.

KFC has adjusted the price of some items on its menu in response to market challenges, online news outlet The Paper reported today, citing a company executive. KFC will continue to make regular assessments and to prudently adjust its price structure in line with changes in operating costs.

Increases in the costs of raw materials and the supply chain as well as staff wages since 2023, are the main reasons behind this price hike, the Securities Times reported the same day, citing food industry analyst Zhu Danpeng.

A 2 percent price increase is quite modest and will not put too much of an extra burden on customers, said Jiang Han, a senior researcher at thinktank Pangoal. In the long run, by doing so, KFC, which runs 11,283 stores across the country, will maintain healthy operations.

KFC, which entered China in 1987, has been expanding the range of prices and lowering the average price, Yum China said on Nov. 4. KFC's pricing in the third quarter was slightly lower than the previous quarter, but higher than in 2019, it added.

Rival McDonald’s raised prices by an average of 3 percent in China in December last year, citing higher operating costs.

Editor: Kim Taylor