Reality: A few years ago this would have been relevant. Most people can only afford the knockoffs now.
My Chipotle meal cost $17 yesterday. It used to cost $8. The $9 difference is going to come out of my budget to buy authentic brands and buy local stuff.
If you don't like it, make my Chipotle meal $8 again or double my salary, reduce my taxes, and don't pull random geopolitical shit that crashes the S&P500 every other weekend, and then we'll talk.
Depending on your date range, much of this difference might be the same inflation that has happened everywhere in the market.
Make your burrito or bowl at home, and it'll cost $4 or less.
You're not wrong. People are going to be on about "just cook at home" but the general point still is correct. Life has just become a lot more expensive.
We need to realize that the cost of food at grocery stores has gone up a lot too.
That is because the value of the dollar is half what it used to be. In other words, inflation has been 20% per year for 5 years.
So why do they keep telling us it's 4%?