Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is talking with senior beef and cattle market research analyst at Rabo AgriFinance, Lance Zimmerman. Hays and Zimmerman talk about the 2023 barbecue index.
Rabo AgriFinance has developed a BBQ index, which is a read on the expense of enjoying barbecue this summer with family and friends.
“Sitting here in the heart of barbecue season, we are really in a place where if you look at the price of the basket of goods you typically have in a barbecue, they are up about 30-31 percent compared to where they would have been just a handful of years ago, pre-pandemic,” Zimmerman said.
With all of the different factors in the economy today, Zimmerman said those higher prices are not a complete shock, but it is jarring to see those increases.
Looking at how much it might cost to prepare for a ten-person barbecue, Zimmerman said the price is close to 100 dollars. The items included in this calculation, Zimmerman said, include products like ground beef, chicken breast, buns, cheese slices, tomatoes, and more.
“Compared to about 2018, that is almost 25 dollars higher than where it was then,” Zimmerman said.
The products leading the charge in the price increase, Zimmerman said, are sodas, burgers and buns, potato chips and chicken breasts.
These higher prices at the store are a product of movement in the cattle markets, Zimmerman said, but those higher boxed beef prices are especially significant.
“The boxed beef market, for all intents and purposes- we ought to just call it all-time highs,” Zimmerman said. “Yes, the pandemic pricing in ’21, the fall highs were a little higher, certainly ’20 was, but that was a crazy time,” Zimmerman said.
While the retailer and restaurants are having to inch their prices higher, Zimmerman said consumers still see value in the beef product.
“That value certainly still exists out there, and that is good news as we think about it as a beef industry that clearly where we are at in the cycle, we are going to have to keep asking the consumer to pay higher prices to continue to fuel and fund what should be over the next several years an industry that is seeking to rebuild,” Zimmerman said.
Rabo AgriFinance includes beer in their index, which they found is the priciest item on a per-person basis. Five years ago, it would have cost 73 dollars for a ten-person barbecue. Today, that number has jumped to 97 dollars. (**Editors note: the reason Rabo Agrifinance’s index has different results from AFBF’s survey is because cost of beer is included in Rabo’s calculations.)
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