Butcher explains why prices continue to rise on meats, seafood
A return to normal has driven costs up for foods, like meat. In recent weeks, experts said meat markups have skyrocketed after an international meat supplier recently made headlines.
A morning at Santoni's Marketplace in northern Maryland brings the typical bustle of shoppers and workers alike. Now, a different, more subtle kind of chaos is happening in the meat aisle: skyrocketing prices.
"The highest the prices and costs in anything I've ever seen," meat and seafood manager David Strauss said.
Strauss estimated that overall prices are up 30% to 35%. A big reason is a , halting production in North American and Australian factories earlier this month, ending only after the company paid a ransom of $11 million.
"Recently, that has been a big part of the last couple of weeks. But even before that, the prices had gone up dramatically. They really had — 20% to 25%," Strauss said.
Before all that, other reasons came from basic supply and demand. Gas prices are driving up the cost of red meat, particularly. The reopening of businesses has brought back demand.
Red meats, like beef tenderloin, for example, are all up, but seafood prices are up, too. The people at Santoni's said specifically crab meat has reached a breaking point when it comes to price.
"I'm nervous because I feel like crab meat is at a break price where people are frustrated with the pricing," Strauss said.
Strauss said he's playing catch up everyday when it comes to pricing. With no end in sight, he said ask your butcher for alternatives or wait it out.
"As long as we're buying it, it's not going to drop," Strauss said.
