It’s Been a Quiet Week in Grocery Store Meat Departments Across the U.S.

It was a seasonally quiet week in grocery store meat departments and up the distribution chain for turkeys and hams, reports Steiner Consulting Group in the Daily Livestock Report. Here’s a look at pork, turkey and beef prices in the store.

PORK
Grocery store spiral-cut ham features for Thanksgiving averaged $3.09 per pound last week, versus $2.90 a year ago, according to USDA National Retail Report—Pork. Meanwhile, wholesale ham prices during the second and third quarter of this year were more than 10% cheaper than a year earlier which has kept inventories from building (freezer inventories down 7% from a year ago on November 1), Steiner Consulting reports. Wholesale primal ham values have been trading firmly to slightly higher coming out of the holiday week. 

TURKEY 
There was very little trade in whole birds at prices steady with the prior week, according to USDA-AMS daily turkey market comments. The trading range at wholesale for basted Grade A hens was between 88 cents to $1.13 per pound, with the low end down a little from the week before but equal to the low of the week of November 10, Steiner Consulting reports. These prices are down close to 50% compared to 2022. 

“Turkey movement from the packing plant to distribution centers in the marketing chain during the September-October period can give a good indication of grocery store expectations for holiday sales. This year, turkey volumes during this time period were up a little over 1% from a year earlier. In 2022, this measure increased 1% from 2021, but in 2021 the metric fell close to 5% as COVID-19 proved to be a dominating issue,” Steiner Consulting reports.

In recent weeks, the USDA National Retail Report—Turkey reported turkey features for Thanksgiving have averaged slightly above a dollar per pound ($1.14 for the Thanksgiving holiday week) and are up slightly this week to $1.23. In 2023, turkey features for the holiday week were pegged at $1.00.

“Grocery store marketing plans for Thanksgiving usually start six months earlier, during the spring quarter. At that time, wholesale hen prices were trading for $1.60 per pound versus $1.44 a year earlier. Given the higher price and concerns about Avian Influenza at the time, it is not surprising to see a slightly higher price at retail this Thanksgiving,” Steiner Consulting reports.

BEEF
Beef prime rib is a popular item at Christmas and New Years, the report notes. Grocery store features this week reported by USDA came in at $10.74 a pound compared to $9.51 a year ago. Choice 112A lip-on rib eyes averaged $12.08 last week, according to USDA-AMS, up from $10.88 a year ago and $11.64 the prior week. 

“This does not provide much wiggle room for attractive grocery store prime rib features in coming weeks,” Steiner Consulting notes.

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