U.S. meat consumers are swapping premium steaks for cheaper ground beef as concern for high unemployment and slower economic growth forces families to trim their food budgets, according to industry researcher CattleFax.
The CHART OF THE DAY shows retail ground-beef prices that the Bureau of Labor Statistics says climbed 17 percent this year and averaged $2.774 a pound in June, the highest since at least 1984. Boneless, choice sirloin steak averaged $5.891 a pound in June, a nine-month low and down 3 percent this year.
“Consumers will continue to migrate toward hamburgers because of price points, at the expense of some of your steak items,” Kevin Good, a CattleFax senior analyst, said in a telephone interview from Centennial, Colorado. “Consumers typically in times of uncertainty spend less of their disposable income. They cut back on going out to eat. If your 401(k) got a 20 percent hit in the last couple weeks, you’re less likely to go out and have that steak.”
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