Why meat costs us an arm and a leg (of lamb)
Roasts hit by global demand & end of curbs
WHEN Clive Linder came home from the supermarket with a leg of lamb for dinner, he probably thought wife Rozalia would be pleased.
But she was furious at the £30.86 price and ranted about it on Facebook, in a post that soon went viral.
She wrote: “He did question the price and accepted the answer and paid... however, I’m not prepared to pay this!!”
Rozalia, of Ramsbottom, Greater Manchester, is far from alone in noticing that lamb and other meat has soared in price.
Here we investigate why.
How much have meat prices risen?
It varies depending on the meat, and the cut. Food prices in general rose by an average of 4.2%year-on-year last month, the Office for National Statistics said.
But lamb chop prices were typically up 8.7% in the past year, chicken by 10% and minced beef by 25%.
Vegetables have also risen in price, so laying on a traditional Sunday roast has become a costly affair.
But why have prices risen so much?
Peter Hardwick, trade policy adviser at the
British Meat Processors Association, explained: “It has been driven by global forces because of increased demand. “The global population is growing and the increasing middle classes want to buy more meat.”
Another reason for the spike in demand has been economies emerging from Covid lockdowns with restaurants and hotels reopening, tourism restarting and people eating out more. That has all led to an increase in demand for meat around the world.
So, is it the case for all meat?
On the whole, yes, but there are other factors too.
Take a leg of lamb, the focus of Rozalia’s post: There were 11% fewer lambs reared in the UK for meat production last year, partly a response to farmers previously being squeezed and cutting back.
With less UK-produced lamb, we would normally turn to imports, especially New Zealand. But Peter Hardwick explained the UK has had half the expected quota from New Zealand because lamb exports from there have been increasingly going to the Far East, especially China, where customers have been willing to pay more.
What about other meat?
Beef is another one where shoppers are likely to have noticed prices shoot up.
Again, the reasons can be varied but Mr Hardwick said one explanation was a greater focus on buying British than was the case for many other meats.
Yet farmers here have been hit by a sharp rise in costs, from cattle feed to energy. There is then pressure to pass on those costs through higher prices.
Mr Hardwick added that the global price of beef has also gone up, pushing up the cost of the beef we eat that comes from abroad – around 20% of our consumption.
Has pork gone up too?
Pork prices were in sharp focus last year amid a national shortage of the CO2 gas used to stun pigs in abattoirs.
That shortage combined with a lack of abattoir workers to push up prices.
Pork farmers, like most others, have also been paying more for animal feed, labour and lots more besides.
Mr Hardwick said that, offsetting that, more pork was coming from Germany because of an ongoing ban on exports from Germany to China linked to African swine fever. However, it is possible that the supply of pork could be impacted again from the end of this month. That is when a government deal with the biggest UK manufacturer of fertiliser – of which CO2 is a by-product – comes to an end.
With no new deal in place, it has led to renewed concerns about CO2 shortages.
How can I reduce my meat bill?
One way would obviously be to cut down on meat consumption.
Another option is to opt for different cuts than you would usually choose.
Kevin Cargill, from family-run Scottish butcher Macbeth’s, said the firm was selling lamb shoulder for £14.95 a kilo, compared to £20.95 a kilo for leg.
Mr Cargill added that one reason the firm had increased the price of lamb was that the number of suppliers it was able to use had fallen from four to just one.
Is anyone profiteering from these higher prices?
Livestock farmers and butchers often work on slim margins anyway.
A spokeswoman for the National Sheep Association said: “Prices for farmers have gone up across the board, whether it is grass seed to medicine, to labour costs.”