Price of Beef Heart at Heb
Meat price spikes at H-E-B, other grocers mean big business for San Antonio-area ranchers
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Pure Pastures owner Maggie Eubank sells meats during the Pearl Farmers Market. She is one of many local meat suppliers to report an increase in business due to soaring meat prices at local grocery stores.
Carlos Javier Sanchez /ContributorFor Ali Pettus, the line in the carnivore sand came when H-E-B decided to impose a limit of five meat items per trip in May. Her household, which includes her husband and two sons, eats a lot of meat, and she wanted a secure supply.
She bought eggs from Pure Pastures of Canyon Lake at the Pearl Farmers Market, but she was so conditioned to buying meat at the grocery store, she'd never thought to look elsewhere.
Until she had to.
Pure Pastures owner Maggie Eubank sells meats during the Pearl Farmers Market. She is one of many local meat suppliers to report an increase in business due to soaring meat prices at local grocery stores and the need to socially distance.
Carlos Javier Sanchez /Contributor"We didn't get any meat from her until the shortage, but we started to look for options," Pettus said of Pure Pastures owner Maggie Eubank. "Maggie was there to take care of everything without a hitch, so we will continue to support her. We trust Maggie, and it's good to support local business. Plus, her prices are fair."
In an unexpected side effect of the coronavirus pandemic, droves of customers have opted to secure their meat supply from local purveyors.
The pandemic has disrupted giant meatpacking operations and boosted meat prices. As a result, a supermarket steak costs about the same as one from a small-scale producer. Many Texans figure that if the prices are about the same, they'd rather support a local supplier and buy pork or beef that's more responsibly sourced and raised.
San Antonio-area ranchers have seen a boom in business. Some are earning 10 times what they used to. At least one has had to expand sourcing beyond the ranch to keep up with demand.
Travis Krause walks past grass fed cattle at the Parker Creek Ranch near D'Hanis. The Krause family specializes in pasture raised chickens for eggs and meat, as well as grass fed beef and pasture raised turkeys.
Express-News file photo"The days of $10 (per pound) meat are here, so people are asking themselves if they want to pay for a random piece of meat that they have no idea where it came from, or they want it from us," said Travis Krause, owner of Parker Creek Ranch near D'Hanis.
Parker Creek Ranch has been in Krause's family since 1846. The cattle graze throughout the property and mingle with an army of free-range chickens. Krause prizes transparency about his business and regularly offers tours of the property.
"The dynamics of the industry have changed ... hopefully for the long term," he said.
In March, the average U.S. retail value of a steer was $596.10, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In May, it had risen 18 percent, to $704.50. That's for the whole animal before it gets cut into steaks and briskets, where the per-pound price spikes are even more dramatic.
Cuts of steaks that used to sell for $5 per pound are now going for around $10 or more, and for prime beef, expect to pay about $15 or more per pound. Brisket, the national meat of Texas, is now selling for nearly $5 per pound, twice as much as before the pandemic.
Travis Krause, co-owner of Parker Creek Ranch near D'Hanis, said he just lost a handful of his free-range chickens during the freeze because snow allowed the birds to stay somewhat dry, whereas days of freezing rain would have been deadlier. Here they roam in warmer times.
Staff file photoMost of these price increases are not a result of a shortage of animals, but a shortage of people and facilities to process them. Several meatpacking plants were identified as COVID-19 hot spots. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has cited crowded working conditions and long hours as reasons. Many plants have been operating at reduced capacity since April, when processing was cut to about 60 percent nationwide.
Four large-scale beef processors — Tyson Foods in Springdale, Ark.; Cargill Meat Solutions in Wichita, Kans.; JBS USA in Greeley, Colo.; and National Beef Packing Co. in Kansas City — account for 80 percent of the U.S. beef supply.
One of the nation's largest pork processors, Smithfield Foods in Sioux Falls, S.D., was forced to close April 9 after multiple employees tested positive for the virus. It reopened in May.
For Parker Creek's Krause, a longtime advocate for the local ranching community, such shutdowns mean that his business, conducted mostly through delivery, has never been better. He hasn't been able to keep up with demand for his grass-fed beef and poultry, so he is supplementing his inventory with product from North Texas ranches. On his website, parkercreekranch.com, more than half of his traditional inventory is listed as sold out.
"We developed our delivery model three to four years ago, and we got along well enough, but with COVID and people not wanting to go out into the public, it has been a game changer for us," Krause said. "We went from sales of $5,000 to $10,000 in a month to $50,000 to $60,000. It's been life-changing."
Kelley Escobedo, co-owner of San Antonio-based South Texas Heritage Pork, sells everything from snout to tail. She offers cuts such as shoulder roasts, ham steaks and ground pork for $11.50 per pound.
In this file photo, Mark Escobedo holds one of his prized Heritage breed piglets on his South Texas Heritage Pork farm just outside Floresville. The business is now based in San Antonio.
Sophie Covo / Edible San AntonioThat's a bigger markup than for mass-market grocery pork, which sells for $3 to $5 per pound for similar cuts, but it's right on par with other pasture-raised pork, according to USDA numbers. Large-scale pork processing was not hit as hard as beef, so prices didn't spike as much.
From birth to slaughter at 2½ to 3 years of age, the English Large Black and Tamworth pigs Escobedo and her husband, Mark, raise live their entire lives in open fields free of cages. The meat has reddish hues, reflecting the animals' varied, natural diet, and it looks more like beef than it does traditional pork.
Like Krause, Escobedo has focused on a delivery model and on certain days will drive the meat to customers personally. She and her husband are preparing to open a new meat shop on the East Side in the next month or so called the Farmers Butcher.
"It's overwhelming and exciting at the same time," Escobedo said. "People would say to us that they couldn't afford our product, but have quickly discovered that is what they are paying now. I think the awareness of the cost of good, quality meat is starting to increase."
On June 13, South Texas Heritage Pork was one of many meat vendors back on the scene a week after the reopening of the Pearl Farmers Market. Customers went from vendor to vendor, eager to get back into the swing of things at the vibrant market.
Terrapin Farms owner, Chris Summers, shows costumers different cuts of Texas Droper Lamb during the Pearl Farmers Market.
Carlos Javier Sanchez /ContributorPure Pastures' Eubank was back in her booth selling lamb, pork and beef at prices that ranged from $9 to $20 per pound. Her online and delivery model has been a huge success. "The pandemic has brought us a whole new batch of customers," Eubank said.
"I think it shows everyone how fragile the food system is and that it's important to support the local farmers," she said. "We'll be the ones that have the ability to sustain a community."
Chris Summers of Terrapin Farms in Center Point specializes in raising Texas Doper lambs. She has resisted the urge to raise her prices, offering up a selection of rib and lamb chops, legs, shoulders, breasts and shanks.
As a vendor at the Pearl market, she saw her business plummet when the market was forced to shut down. When it reopened with online ordering and curbside pickup March 20, her business suddenly doubled.
"I was wondering if it was another one of those hoarding scenarios," Summers said. "We were suddenly going through 105 to 110 pounds of meat per week."
It's a trend that Escobedo said could be a permanent boost for the local food scene.
"If we can just turn 10 percent of the food business to the local providers, it's a game changer," Escobedo said. "You will still have people that will take Starbucks over the cost of better meat, but the decision to go for the $12 product versus the $10 that doesn't have a story to it is a little easier to justify."
Chuck Blount is a food writer and columnist covering all things grilled and smoked in the San Antonio area. Find his Chuck's Food Shack columns on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.comTo read more from Chuck, become a subscriber. cblount@express-news.net | Twitter: @chuck_blount | Instagram: @bbqdiver
Source: https://www.expressnews.com/food/article/Meat-price-spikes-at-H-E-B-other-grocers-mean-15353490.php
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