Aug 20, 2018
NASHVILLE, Tenn (RFD-TV) Livestock analyst Shayle Shagam says there’s no doubt that demand for bacon is growing by leaps and bounds. “Restaurants are putting it on items,” he says. “Fast food, bacon cheeseburgers – everything from donuts with bacon, chocolate with bacon. So, the demand for bacon has really increased over the years.”
And so have the prices we’ve been paying for bacon. However, we have some very good news for bacon lovers: those prices are likely coming down as we speak. While formal statistics on bacon production are difficult to come by, she estimates that we’ll be producing about 4.5% more pork in 2018 than 2017, and probably almost 4% more in 2019.
Recently, a surplus of about 120% over last year in the hog parts that bacon comes from have resulted in wholesale prices that are 31% lower than this time a year ago. Retail prices have likewise been about 17% lower on average than last year, and prices for bacon will likely continue their downward trajectory for the remainder of this year.
“Now at the end of the day of course,” Shagam explains, ”the retailer will set thes prices depending on the store traffic, or he’ll set the prices depending on whether he wants to have it as a loss leader to encourage people to come in. So, you’re not going to see a one-for-one match between what happens at wholesale and what happens at your local grocery store. But, typically, we would expect to see prices – given the level of supplies, given the level of wholesale prices – we would expect to see prices at retail, for bacon, to be below last year.”
And on National Bacon Lover’s Day, that’s welcome news indeed!
If you haven’t already, check out a few fun-facts on bacon by scrolling through the gallery up above.