WASHINGTON, United States—Her shopping cart is overflowing with food, but there is no trace of steak.
“Too expensive,” said Lisa, a 48-year-old mother, as she left a Giant supermarket in Washington.
In the United States, land of barbecues and steakhouses, beef is becoming a luxury.
Overall consumer prices rose by seven percent over the course of 2021, an inflation rate not seen since 1982, and the data for January, due out Thursday, is expected to show the yearly increase continued.
American shoppers saw prices for meats, poultry, fish and eggs jump 12.5 percent last year, while beef has soared by as much as 23 percent, depending on the cut.
On the shelves of the Giant grocery store in the Van Ness neighborhood of Washington, only ground beef remains affordable for Lisa, mother of three teenagers, who declined to provide her last name.
“I buy mostly chicken and sausages. Sometimes ground beef,” she said.
Prices for a quality cut of beef can cost up to $24.99 a pound (21.85 euros for 453 grams) while a butcher shop in the swanky Georgetown neighborhood charges $13 more for the same steak.
Jayson Lusk, head of the department of agricultural economics at Purdue University in Indiana cited “a variety of factors that are combining to push food prices higher.”
Consumption has been boosted by high savings rates—swelled by government aid—for Americans largely stuck at home during the pandemic.
And “foreign buyers of US meat, particularly China, have exhibited strong demand alongside strong domestic consumer demand,” Lusk said.
At the same time, wages in the meatpacking industry have increased by almost 20 percent since the start of the pandemic amid a nationwide worker shortage that also has impacted manufacturing and transportation, he said.
Tyson Foods, the largest meat processor in the United States, this week justified its price increases by saying it had to offset rising costs for labor to satisfy demand that continues to outstrip its capacity. AFP
Over the last three months of 2021, Tyson raised beef prices by an average of nearly 33 percent compared to the same period of 2020, while the company’s profits far exceeded expectations.
Now with savings dwindling and prices soaring, eating a steak is out of reach for many low-income families.
“If you’re shopping for a family, I’m sure it has an impact,” said Jay Smith, another Giant customer who said he only buys for himself.
“I already buy less meat and I wait to see if something comes on specials,” Smith said. He added that he buys mostly chicken—admitting a preference for fried chicken.