🥑 index

When the Economist published the Big Mac Index in 1986, nobody could’ve predicted the rise of the Healthy Food Movement and its impact on fast-food chains. Back then, McDonald’s served only hamburgers, fries, and shakes -- relying on the allure of its cheap prices to generate revenue. However, with the growth of fast casual dining (e.g. Chipotle, Shake Shack, Panera), which promise higher quality, non-processed foods made from fresh ingredients, the company has pivoted towards marketing itself as a cheaper and healthy fast-food chain.

Though McDonald’s employ multiple methods to change public sentiment about its food, such as marketing campaigns advertising its chicken salads or swapping apple slices for french fries in their Happy Meals , the most effective strategy so far has been the introduction of avocados. This millennial honeytrap, according to one Australian millionaire, the reason why many of them will be unable to afford a house.

The Big Mac Index in theory measures the purchasing power of a local currency. This is because one of method of determining exchange rates is by comparing the cost of buying a basket of goods in one currency to another. In this case, the basket is avocados. With the demand for avocados outweighing the demand for Big Macs among millennials, a new index is needed for this generation.

Avocadonomics is the new burgernomics.

Lo and behold the Avocado Index!