Business of Food

What Hot Dogs Tell Us About the American Beef Market

Despite near-record prices, US shoppers still want beef products that are within their means.
Hot dogs sit on a tray before Nathan’s Annual Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4. Eating.Photographer: Adam Gray/Getty Images
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Welcome to the Business of Food newsletter, covering how the world feeds itself in a changing economy and climate. This week, Ilena Peng looks at the continuing appetite for beef. Any tips or feedback? Email Agnieszka de Sousa. If you aren’t yet signed up to receive this newsletter, please do so here.

On a sunny Friday outside New York’s Yankee Stadium, baseball fans watched a hot dog mascot dance. There were hot dog-shaped foam hats, and a tattoo artist piping mustard slogans like “Play Ball” onto — you guessed it — hot dogs.