Drought blamed for hefty beef prices at stores, restaurants
CONNIE SWINNEY • PICAYUNE STAFF
MARBLE FALLS — The current price of beef has prompted some unusual responses from customers at the H-E-B meat market.
“You hear complaints (about the rising prices). One customer said he’s going to start buying a whole cow, doing the butchering himself,” said Chris George, a perishable specialist at H-E-B, 1503 RR 1431 in Marble Falls. “If it gets any worse, I might have to start taking him seriously.”
The sticker shock applies to both pre-packaged and freshly cut meat. For example, the price of beef sausage over three months has jumped from $5 for two pounds to $3.27 per pound, he said.
Wade Hibler, the Burnet County AgriLIFE extension agent, blamed the impact of drought conditions on livestock prices for the rising costs at stores.
“We have not yet recovered from the drought,” he said. “Cattle prices are through the ceiling right now. There was such a destocking that began a couple of years ago, which affects the supply.”
One restaurant in town has attempted to absorb the cost despite the rising prices of buying Angus beef products.
“Because of the way the market is going, our prices have gone up 70 percent; the same thing on pork and chicken is following that,” said Wayne Henderson of Peete Country Kitchen (formerly Peete Mesquite Barbecue), 2407 U.S. 281 in Marble Falls. “The prices have just gone astronomically high. I’ve gone up to $11 per pound for brisket, and I see other places in Austin are doing $15 to $18 a pound.”
Henderson purchases his beef from companies such as Waco Meats and Cisco Meats.
“I’m hoping that the market levels out, and I’m hoping that we sell other products that make up the difference,” he said.
He has tried to keep his prices level, reduced portion sizes and has launched a new venture next to his barbecue restaurant to serve “lower-end” food, which costs less to purchase, cook and serve.
“I could see this coming. Everybody can’t buy barbecue. It’s too expensive. A family of four comes in, and it’s $80, so next door, we’re going to have barbecue but also burgers and fries, chickens and pizza and other things,” he said of his restaurant expansion under construction at 2411 U.S. 281. “You have to have a menu that’s diversified and sells some products on the lower end, still satisfy your customers and not sell all beef products because you have to raise your prices too high, and they won’t come in — just so some people can get out of there for $10.”
Peete Country Kitchen is scheduled to be open in the fall.
Meanwhile, in the meat market at H-E-B, customer shopping habits remain the same despite the skyrocketing prices, George said.
“They keep on buying it. They understand it’s not the company’s fault,” he said. “It’s national. They know what to expect.”
connie@thepicayune.com