Commodities
Pricey Beef Has Hog Farmers Betting Consumers Will Eat More Pork
- Margins improve but industry is still hurt by high feed costs
- Producers count on demand boost from bargain-hunting shoppers
Pork in the meat section of a grocery store in San Diego, California.
Photographer: Bing Guan/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
American hog farmers are betting cash-strapped consumers will grill more pork and eat more pepperoni as beef prices surge, feeding a turnaround for an industry that’s been struggling for more than a year.
The smallest US cattle herd since the 1950s is making beef too expensive for shoppers who have seen prices climb month after month and mostly exhausted savings from the pandemic. With a lot of pork to go around, producers are now banking on consumers ordering more sausage and pepperoni pizzas and on rising demand during the grilling season, with the July 4th holiday approaching.