PORTLAND, Texas — A Portland meat market owner says the cost of beef has seen dramatic increases over the last two years, driven by a combination of factors affecting cattle producers.
"The state of the industry in the beef world for sure is on an upward trend continuously dramatically in the last 1 to 2 years," Clayton Saunders told KRIS 6. "It's been a culmination of a lot of factors coming into play for several years."
Saunders, owner of Clayton's Meat Market, has been in the meat industry for 16 years.
He cited regional droughts, nationwide shortages of live cattle and urban development, noting that Texas in particular is losing over 1,000 acres per day. "Recently we have now seen the highest cattle prices in history, and they're continuing to rise," Saunders said.
According to Saunders, these increases have a direct impact on retail prices. He said the perception that retailers benefit from high prices is incorrect.
"On the retail side, all the consumers think is that the retailers love high prices, which is absolutely opposite," Saunders said. "We want fair pricing the same as everybody else because our margins continuously go down as the prices go up and the consumer does pay the end result for that obviously."
He said specialty cuts like rib eyes and briskets are seeing significant price hikes due to their limited supply per animal. "Currently we're seeing jumps of over 100% on cost of the beef industry," Saunders said. "Specialty cuts such as terrace majors we're currently paying more now our cost from what we were selling that same cut just a year ago."
To combat these challenges, Saunders said his business is diversifying and leveraging its vertical integration with its own processing plant. He said the "farm to table" model is an upward trend, with consumers seeking more local options.
In response to customer concerns, Saunders encourages shoppers to understand the broader industry dynamics.
"Definitely hang in there, understand that we're all in the same boat going in the same direction," Saunders said. "If you step away completely from the beef option, it's only gonna hurt the industry more in the big picture in the long run."
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