LogFAQs > #980387262

Generally speaking, fast food places use higher margins on fries to compensate for lower margins on their meat. The gold standard for food service is to have food costs make up ~30% of the final price of the item (the rest covering labour, overhead, and profit margins), but fast food burgers typically have food costs of 50-55%. Fries, on the other hand, come in at 5-10%, and drinks are like 1%. This is why they push combos so hard.

Air fryers are pretty great for making frozen fries at home, if you find a brand you like well enough to substitute for fast food fries. You can get even cheaper by just making your own, but that tends to be much more time-consuming and often doesn't turn out as well. Neither help for when you're on the road, but it's an opportunity to save some money at home.