Beef prices on the rise, local restaurant plans for extra costs

“The number of cattle in the U.S. today is comparable to the U.S. in the 1950’s, but of course, demand is a lot stronger domestically, and especially abroad,” says Volpe.

The average for steak, or ground beef in the United States is 24 cents, and Volpe tells 41NBC, the price is not going down anytime soon.

He says consumers can expect to see a 3 to 4 percent increase in costs this year alone.

For local businesses ordering 1,800 to 2,000 pounds of beef per week, like Smoke ‘N’ Pig in Macon, that cost makes a difference.

“That’s a $500 swing in beef prices for us,” says General Manager, David Brentise.

Since, the company doesn’t want to see the extra cash thrown away, Brentise says the staff takes extra precaution to make sure the customers’ orders are precise.

“We can make sure we cut our steaks right, don’t over cook a steak…if someone orders medium, make sure it’s medium. We can’t necessarily afford to cook a steak over and over to make sure it’s right.”

Last year, the price of choice sirloin would cost the restaurant around $4.25 per pound. Due to the increase in product, beef now costs them $5.37 per pound.

“We’re not going to see any relief anytime soon. We’re going to see record prices for beef to the rest of the year probably well into 2015. It will be 2015 before we have any hope of seeing a significant expansion of cattle herds, and the only mechanism, that’s the only way we can see any real relief from these record high beef prices,” says Volpe.

The economist added consumers should stock-up on beef products before an additional increase in price.