Tuesday, November 02, 2021

the price of beef in the US

I just saw this outrageous claim in an Instapundit comment:

Steak is $20 a pound.

Flabbergasted at seeing Korean prices in America, I typed "current price of beef" into Google, and this source suggests that things aren't that bad yet, but beef prices are definitely inflated compared to last year at the same time. The range of inflation depends on the cut of meat, but seems to be in the 15%-50% range for the most part, with the average being somewhere around 30%-40%.  In terms of raw numbers, beef is around $3-4/pound, as it's been for a long time, with some cuts obviously cheaper than others. With the Korean service Coupang, you can pay $12/pound for ground beef—around 3-4 times the US cost.

So US beef is still relatively cheap compared to the cost of beef here in Korea. Trust me—Americans don't know how good they have it when it comes to some things. If you're whining about $4 per pound for beef, come to Korea and get some perspective.



3 comments:

The Maximum Leader said...

I've not seen any "regular" steak cut come in at $20/lb. A "Choice" grade NY Strip steak is $11.50/lb at Wegmans. Wegmans "Choice" boneless ribeye is $17.50/lb. So those prices are getting up there and are noticeably higher than they were a year ago, and even 6 months ago. Of course, if you are looking for organic, grass-fed, "Prime" grade, or wagyu-style then you are regularly starting for stip steaks at $20-22/lb.

I suppose if one is shopping at Whole Foods it wouldn't be out of the ordinary to see $20/lb.

Kevin Kim said...

Let's go, Brandon!

John from Daejeon said...

Beef is till reasonable here in Texas, especially when shopping like the masses at Kroger and HEB. But bacon is at least 1/4 to a 1/3 higher and gas is now nearly doubled in one year.