Consumers' choices thin, as are butchers' margins, with meat prices up

Meat prices have some reconsidering their holiday meals, cutting butchers' margins thin.

"I've been through COVID, I've been through mad cow disease. ... This is the most difficult year I've ever experienced," said Johannes Wildenborg, who has owned and operated Master Meats in Calgary for 35 years.

He has been facing months of high meat costs, especially beef, and it's gotten worse ahead of his busy holiday season.

In 2020, a kilogram of ground beef averaged $9.99, and in 2024 (up to September), it averaged over $12.26.

Sirloin steak averaged $15.92 dollars in 2020 and $22.26 this year.

Shoppers looking for alternatives will find pork, chicken and turkey prices up, too.

"I'm just trying to buy the cheapest amount of meat. It's sad, but steak, chicken, pork, all of it has gone up," said Leona Wallace outside a Calgary grocery store.

Many shoppers are avoiding expensive cuts or buying smaller quantities.

"Prime rib orders and tenderloin is so expensive. I hate to charge what I’m charging, but I have to; I have no choice," Wildenborg said.

Wildenborg said he had fewer orders of these cuts for Thanksgiving.

Canadian beef statistic firm Canfax said the average price of steers is up nine per cent from last year, and 64 per cent per cent from 2019.

"It's significant," said Jamie Kerr with Canfax.

He said live cattle are currently sold around $247 per hundredweight, up from about $230 per hundredweight last year and $163 per hundredweight 10 years ago.

Kerr said higher prices don't always translate into profits for ranchers and feedlot operators, who are also dealing with inflation.

"Higher feed prices, higher interest rates, higher input costs, higher everything. So, we're looking at the margins and it's really not better than it was last year," he said.

Food experts say Canada's declining cattle population plays a part in prices.

Canadian farmers held 11.2 million cattle and calves on their farms on Jan. 1, 2023, down 8.1 per cent from the same date in 2013, according to Statistics Canada.

"The solution would be to see more cattle ranchers re-investing in their herds," said Sylvain Charlebois with Dalhousie University.

It's not a quick solution, since cattle take about a year to get to market.

Charlebois expects meat prices to remain high well into 2025.

Some butchers say they can't bear much more but know everybody is struggling.

"I always feel that it's easier to keep a customer than attract a customer. So, I keep my margins as small as possible, just basically to cover costs, and some months I don't and some months I do," Wildenborg said.