A kilogram of ground beef sells for an average of $13, compared to $10 in 2020. A sirloin steak sells for an average of $22, compared to less than $16 in 2016, according to Statistics Canada.
This text is a translation of content from CTV News.
Joel Orlik, owner of Wellington Butchery in west Ottawa, says he saw the increases coming and ordered his cuts in advance. Even if he doesn’t want to scare away customers, he knows where the market is.
“We charge what we think we should charge, but we are always conscious of the fact that we are also the community’s store,” he said.
Mr Orlik considers Wellington Butchery to be an artisan butcher shop, but he says over the years the price difference is not far off from that of retail grocery stores.
“Grocery stores have caught up with me on price. When they sell products of similar quality to ours, they are not far behind the difference.”
– Joel Orlik, owner of Wellington Butchery
The beef market has seen other setbacks in the past, including mad cow disease 20 years ago and the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused ranchers to sell off most of their herds.
Sylvain Charlebois, a food distribution expert and professor at Dalhousie University, believes the price hike is partly due to North American ranchers shedding their herds due to the rising cost of feed. . With the price of a steer having increased by 64% since 2019, grocers, butchers and consumers are affected.
“They’re probably going to increase even more over the next couple of years, unfortunately.” Mr. Charlebois added: “They went through a major crisis with beef.
They went through a major crisis with mad cow disease 20 years ago, and when prices go up, a lot of people say, “Let’s sell now.” Let’s go out and do something else.” This is really what is happening. This is why the prices are so high. and who can blame them?
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According to Mr. Charlebois, the size of herds in Canada is the same as in 1987. In the United States, levels this high have not been observed since 1951.
“As a result of droughts, feed costs have increased and when feed costs increase significantly, livestock producers tend to sell their herds,” Charlebois said.
He believes that with the price of beef being what it is, people will turn to other, more reasonably priced sources of protein during the holidays.
“I think turkeys will be sold at reasonable prices this year, like we saw at Thanksgiving. In certain regions of Ontario, turkey was sold at $0.90 per pound,” added the expert.
“Beef is arguably one of the most volatile products in supermarkets, and has been for many years.”
Strong demand for steaks and ground beef in North America is also contributing to rising prices. Mr. Charlebois notes that if farmers do not reinvest in the market, prices will continue to increase over the next two or three years.
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