# The price of beef



## left4bread (May 8, 2009)

beef_prices2.ju.top.jpg




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left4bread


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Jun 12, 2013








My provider of cut NY 10z steaks told me a few weeks ago that their price raised $4.00 per pound. I promptly stopped delivery and found cut NY's at 10z for an appropriate price.

No biggie; these things happen.

3 weeks later (a few days ago) my GM alerts me to some beef pricing crisis that is in the news.

Anyone following this?

Is this a thing?

Or is it just a thing?

(Yes, I meant to say it like that).

Anyone seen a huge increase in beef prices or expect to see it?

Should we all cower in fear about the future state of beef prices?!

http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/31/markets/beef_price_increasing/index.htm

Or is this just reactionary journalism, desperately seeking attention?


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## duckfat (Aug 7, 2008)

I've been hearing about this on the news for weeks now but at least on a retail level I haven't seen a spike in prices here. For home I did put a few strip loins and briskets in the freezer just in case prices get a little carried away. Gas OTOH is $4.30 a gallon here! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/eek.gif

Dave


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

It is a thing.

Farmers and ranchers (usually lumped with offshore commercial fishermen) are losing ground and money to the Big Farms (not to be confused with Big Pharm, altho I am sure they are in there someplace) by way of reduced price stabilization (money paid to producers to NOT produce) and increased regulation.

Nothing new... they have been chipping away at the foundation of the small family owned and operated farms for years.

Tyson has powerful and highly paid professional lobbyists but Jimmy John (who also raises chickens for market)

must rely on his elected officials to "get 'er done".

Been creeping up and up for years.

This being a public forum I will not go off on a political rant.

I will point out, however, that it is significantly cheaper for Big Farm to bring food  to our grocery stores.

Less in production costs but higher prices to the consumer?

Welcome to the global marketplace.

mimi


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

Hanger meat by me has gone from $2.94/lb. to $4.65/lb in the last few months. It's a real killer.


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## left4bread (May 8, 2009)

I was under the impression that it was due to drought; the cost of feed has gone up.

Our ground beef comes from a local ranch. They're grass fed and then finished on the spent grain from our brewery. We're pretty much locked in on a price so I'm not worried about that.

Our prime rib is from BPA ...which is Tyson, right?

That's my biggest worry, having the worst FC%.

So what does one do when their hanger jumps up $1.50/lb? Change menu prices? Just wait it out?

Just curious.

Oh, and feel free to rant.


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## 23years (May 26, 2013)

Yea. all meat is up. Wait it out, cuz if it doesn't go down, where does it go?! Meat has bout doubled in the last year. Let's see where!


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## left4bread (May 8, 2009)

whuuu... 

In what area has it doubled in the last year?


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

Yes.

Prices are up and probably a large part of it was due to drought.

Question is will the prices go down if everyone has a perfect season?

Probably not.

Will we stop buying beef?

I am just cutting down the amts and the frequency.

Eating less protein and not only feel better but have also dropped a couple of lbs.

Thanks for all those veg recipes, Ice  ;-)

mimi


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## cacioepepe (Apr 3, 2011)

flipflopgirl said:


> Yes.
> 
> Prices are up and probably a large part of it was due to drought.
> 
> ...


Right on Flip. We're just going to have to find alternatives. Just like when gas prices began to rise, the demand for electric cars went up. As we've seen, the prices aint going down to $1.03/gal like when I first started driving. Americans are going to have to find ways to ween ourselves off of beef, one of them being eating less of it. My girlfriend and I usually eat giant salads with poached eggsafter we get home from work late, but on saturday when we visit the farmers market we pick up a nice strip loin, ribeye, or pork chop from a local farm and eat that on sunday. Not saying i dont eat meat in other capacities, I just don't purchase that much for myself. Finding alternatives for a restaurant can be much more difficult though.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Tyson is a  low life outfit who has been ripping off stockholders for years, and in fact is almost a monopoly. They were biggest in chicken and then purchased IBP which made them # 2 in meat. I believe Cargil is number 1


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## chefboy2160 (Oct 13, 2001)

Last year I was paying $35.00 for a 15# case of 14/16 bacon and now its up to $55.00 this week. I do not see the prices on anything coming down in the near future.


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## dcarch (Jun 28, 2010)

Beef prices are up because:

1. Bad weather.

2. Remember "Pink Slime"? millions and millions tons of good healthy beef has gone to feed the dogs.

3. China (and many other countries) are eating much much much more meat.

Expect meat prices to continue to go up. 

dcarch


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

Add to the above:

fuel costs, not only for transportation but also production
feed costs (competition from bio-alcohol, etc.)
increased inspection and food safety costs
increased labor costs, i.e. wages, insurance, health care, etc.
increased water costs (10-20 gallons per day per animal)
insurance
utilities


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

Exactly, Pete.

Take that list and apply it to Jimmy John and he has nothing left to live on much less send a kid to college.

Conglomerates like Tyson have many different links in their chains that produce or import products that the other links need to manufacture or grow or raise so the $$$ is just taken from one pocket and placed in another...HUGE profit margins (which makes GREAT bizness sense but..../img/vbsmilies/smilies/laser.gif anyway!)

That they are doing this on the backs of the American consumer infuriates me.

Case in point...there is an important farm (dairy) bill that is being discussed (does John Boehner get spray tanned or is he playing golf on my dime?)

I read most of it (until the mumbo jumbo got too thick) and they are asking for insurance rebate checks and price stabilization checks and of course a ton of other things that will leave them with some cash to live on.

I noticed that there were some sharks standing around (fancy suits and golf tans) in the background... so this means that Jimmy John is gonna get screwed again.

Big Dairy will be the one profiting from this as soon as they can get some more regulations slapped on the small family and co-op dairies (will involve $ so guess who is gonna be out of bizness?)

Did I rant?

No?

Then I am not finished, lol.

You guys may think I am standing on your left but I am a born and bred Texan so just turnnnnn your head to the right and ...there I am! see? That's me waving! Hi, CT!

mimi


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

OBTW....

Pete, what exactly IS a recipe fox?

m.


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

chefboy....

My brother has a friend that is a butcher.

Last week they went fishing and of course the talk turned to food costs.

Turns out that the butcher's business is slowly drying up (everybody is either eating less meat or buying from one of the chains) and my bro said that his meat costs are higher every week and he is going to have to let someone go (his sister will pick up the slack...not)

So they struck up a deal...my bro is able to keep serving quality meats at a fair price and the butcher (name is withheld to protect the innocent, lol) doesn't have to file bankrupcy and lose a shop that has been in their family for 4 generations.

win-win

mimi


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

flipflopgirl said:


> OBTW....
> 
> Pete, what exactly IS a recipe fox?
> 
> m.


RecipeFox is a FireFox (web browser) add-on that captures recipes from web pages and imports them into MasterCook with, in most cases, a single mouse click. Prior to importing, one can edit or annotate a recipe as well.


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## highlander01 (Apr 30, 2010)

flipflopgirl said:


> chefboy....
> 
> My brother has a friend that is a butcher.
> 
> ...


Now that's how it gets done


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## chefboy2160 (Oct 13, 2001)

Highlander01 said:


> Now that's how it gets done


Yes flip You are so right for the Chef who can control who they can buy from but in my current position I am pretty much locked into Sysco and a local produce company so my meat quality and control are very limited as those of you who use Sysco know! But the upside is I do purchase all of my home meats from local farmers and I must say nothing beats a grass fed piece of beef or pork, chicken and lamb done with the farmers eye to quality with the final product.


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

Thanks, Pete.

I was thinking you were advertizing....well nevermind.

/img/vbsmilies/smilies/blushing.gif

mimi


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## chefhow (Oct 16, 2008)

Don't forget that in 2010 and 2011 they thinned herds when the bubble burst and now we are feeling it since there is a lack of cattle to pull from.


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## left4bread (May 8, 2009)

chefedb said:


> Tyson is a low life outfit who has been ripping off stockholders for years, and in fact is almost a monopoly. They were biggest in chicken and then purchased IBP which made them # 2 in meat. I believe Cargil is number 1


Yes, that's what I meant. IBP. I think you're being a bit too kind with the "low life" comment.

I'm finding local suppliers that will match or beat those big names' prices.

It makes me think that these pricing issues are specific to the monopoly holders and the victims of that monopoly. (oligopoly..or whatever)

I live in Washington State. Buying beef from OR or WA. In _rare_ cases from CA or Canada.

Am I living in a bubble?


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## left4bread (May 8, 2009)

Well, I don't have anything new to add, but, rather than start a new thread,

BUMP

what are we going to do now?

What are we actually looking at? How much did you pay this week vs. last week vs. last year?





  








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left4bread


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Apr 17, 2014








beefretail.org

Not sure of it accuracy, just a chart to look at. People like charts.

I know stuff like this is kind of hush-hush, nobody feels comfortable revealing their suppliers' prices, but we can chat about it, no?

Are you just rolling with the punches or are you raising menu prices?

Is it even affecting you?

Me? Well I thought you'd never ask!

I'm locked in on grd beef prices with a local rancher. Menu reflects that price and that price isn't going to change because local.

Prime rib is floating ~.50/lb. That can add up at 1.5 cases a week, so good-bye prime dip and hello pre-cooked top round french dip (price seems to be stable on that product).

Stew meat hasn't moved enough to be a problem, not enough a problem to spend labor on buying chuck and cutting it in house.

I started getting strip loins in and cutting steaks myself 8 months ago. I control the yield (like I should). But I'm thinking about changing it to something with a higher yield/less waste like teres major.

Anything new on your end?


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## capecodchef (Jan 19, 2014)

I'm looking for a breakfast steak. I was cutting small 7 oz.strips but I can no longer afford it with the selling prices we need to keep it to (around $15). My business model requires a 25% food cost on average and I just don't have enough lower % items to offset the price of beef. Any suggestions?


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## beastmasterflex (Aug 14, 2013)

I'm having the same problem even no roll has got to expensive. I've been looking to that ranch girl garbage but can't bring myself to do it. Thinks it's time to goto a differet cut.


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## santona 1937 (Apr 6, 2014)

Meat and dairy prices are going up  globally. The way I see it you have three options;

 1. raise menu prices.

2. find a substitute for meat and dairy

3. move more and more to sous vide, which allows you to use cheaper cuts of meat.

 Number 1 is out  for a lot of folks, especially in the middle market segment, where margins are already squeezed.

 Number 2 requires some creative thinking, but can be made to work so that your customer does not even notice.

Number 3 requires the purchase of quite expensive equipment, and perhaps retraining your staff.

 We have done a mixture of all three. we already worked a lot with sous vide techniques , so we just expanded that. We have just ordered another three water baths, which brings us to five in total.

 We did reduce the amount of proteins on our menus by quite some ways, added some raw food, some vegan stuff, got a bit creative, extended our larder section.

 Rather than raise our protein prices on the existing menu  we are taking a small unused open air space ( about 50 sq. meters) and converting it into an open air grill/Steak Bar.   Our prices will go up, but we hope that by doing this we will also be adding value that folks can see.


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## beastmasterflex (Aug 14, 2013)

Hey santona have you ever sous vide chuck steaks or top round steaks. I've heard claims that when done right they can produce results as tender as prime rib. I was planning on experimenting soon, but my experiments tend to cost me a lot of money... And I like money. Maybe I should start a thread on sous vide steak cuts? Let me pick your brain?


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## ljokjel (Jul 1, 2009)

beastmasterflex said:


> Hey santona have you ever sous vide chuck steaks or top round steaks. I've heard claims that when done right they can produce results as tender as prime rib. I was planning on experimenting soon, but my experiments tend to cost me a lot of money... And I like money. Maybe I should start a thread on sous vide steak cuts? Let me pick your brain?


Id say you are able to get magnificent meat by mixing SV and chuck steaks.

Of course it depends on what you want to use the final result, but Ive been very happy about mine.

Now as we are discussing this, Santona... Whats your thoughts about sous vide in ovens with vapour vs. circulators and water baths. In some cases I think its works fine, but sometimes there is no substitute for waterbath and the efficiency of the water when it comes to transferring heat quickly.


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## beastmasterflex (Aug 14, 2013)

I'm looking at doing chuck tender steaks choice grade in a poly science rig. Does the marbling melt sufficiently? Also I think sous vide in a combi oven (I'm assuming you mean vacuum packaging and then steaming.) produces totally different results. Ive done it with chicken a great deal in both. I think the difference between the two is most clearly demonstrated with eggs.


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## santona 1937 (Apr 6, 2014)

Sous Vide can  produce some really cool results in using cuts like chuck/ top Round/ Onglet etc. 

 I will start  a thread on sous vide  so as not to derail this thread.


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