TULSA, Okla. — Shopping for meat in recent months cost more than normal with meat processing plants shutting down across the country due to the pandemic
Duke Dinsmore owns Harvard Meats in Broken Arrow. He said while the shortage didn't affected his meat supply, his prices did change.
“During this shortage, the prices rose considerably," Dinsmore said. "Upwards of 60 percent on most items and some of it actually well over 60 percent."
The same goes for Perry’s Food Store in Tulsa.
“Beef prices just shot up," said Tricia White, manager of Perry's. "It was like crazy just like shooting up, shooting up every day.”
Oklahoma State University Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist Dr. Derrell Peel said soon there’s going to be a surplus after the meat shortage this spring. He also said prices are going to be coming down just in time for the 4th of July weekend.
“The disruptions in meat supply, the shortages that we experienced a month ago really should be, if they’re not already being relieved, they should be getting significantly better just in the very near future," Peel said.
Both butcher shops said they’ve seen the recent changes in prices.
“I think the last two weeks we finally saw a break in some of our prices," White said.
“I’m seeing prices fall and I’m seeing product available in stores," Dinsmore said. "And it’s getting easier for me to get product. So, I think we’re on the path to doing things back to normal.”
One positive from the pandemic, their customers have doubled.
“We’ve received a tremendous influx of business at the time the shortage was going on," Dinsmore said. "And we’ve retained a lot of those folks.”
“A lot of new customers," White said. "March and April we just saw a lot of new customers and we saw a repeat of them coming back.”
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