Canadians (and probably others as well) are finding the price of pork products is rising sharply this fall. There are a number of contributing factors, but the impact has been harshest on cured products including bacon, hot dogs and ham. Pork chops are up, too, but not as much as bacon!
An endangered species?
Not too long ago, when beef prices rose to new heights every month, folks began to turn to chicken and pork as more affordable meats. As of this past August, bacon prices, in particular, reached all-time highs.*
Here’s how the price increases have been progressing: In August 2019, the average price of a 500 g / 1.1 lb. package was $7.00. In August 2020, it had risen to $7.24. And by August of this year, the average package of bacon cost $8.24 – a full dollar more, and the first time since records have been kept that the price exceeded $8.00.
Hot dogs were also up sharply this past August over August of last year – 13.5 percent. Pork Chops were up too, just over 4 percent. Other fresh pork products rose similarly.
Not just pork
Beef prices were also up. Premium cuts like streaks and roasts were up an average of 11 percent with everyday cuts like stewing beef and round steak increasing by an average of 5 percent. And… Chicken was also up, too, but not as much as the 4-legged meats. That left no options for the average person, looking to keep their grocery costs under control.
Contributing factors
We all remember the meat packing plant closures due to COVID-19 outbreaks among staff, both in Canada and the U.S. That definitely drove up prices due to shortages. But those increases were spikes over a few weeks or a couple of months, until the facilities were deep-cleaned and the anti-COVID protocols upgraded. But because the industry’s capacity to process meats was down, farmers couldn’t sell their animals, and culled their herds to keep their expenses in line. A shortage on top of a shortage.
But the price increases we’re talking about today have mounted over a matter of two years or more. The COVID-era plant closures and related circumstances can’t adequately explain them. And there’s no indication prices will go back down a lot or even a little in the foreseeable future.
The beginning of the end?
Is this a signal that the big switch to plant-based proteins – which is already under way, though moving slowly – is evolving from an option to a necessity? Is there an explosion in plant protein sales on the horizon? If so, the price of plant-based meat substitutes will have to come down sharply. Even with the recent (and sustained) price increases for beef, pork (and chicken), plant-based ‘meats’ are still just as expensive as their real-meat counterparts. That’s a gain in competitiveness for the plants over their position a year or two ago. But not because their prices have dropped. We may well ask… Is our love affair with bacon over?
It looks like high protein prices may be here to stay. And where those prices may top out remains a mystery.
~ Maggie J.
* For an in-depth look at the bacon situation, visit this webpage.