Maybe next time you walk into McDonald’s or Burger King, you’ll hear your friendly cashier suggest, “Hello, would you like a chicken sandwich today?”

And why is this, you may ask. Well, beef prices have been steadily rising over recent years because of drought conditions and the rising demand for beef overseas. Industry analysts indicate that the cost of lean ground beef is up 24 cents per pound from the previous year.

While that might not seem like a huge amount, it can add up and eat into the bottom line profits of fast-food giants like Burger King, Wendy’s, McDonald’s and others. Why not just pass along the price to the customer? Well, think about it…people are only willing to pay so much for a hamburger after all.

Does this mean your favorite fast food restaurants are going to stop serving beef? No—but what you may see according to industry experts, is a gentle push toward chicken instead. This will help take the focus for these restaurants off their beef products and on to more profitable items like chicken.

So, the true question now may really be, as so aptly stated in the classic Wendy’s commercial, “Where’s the Beef?”