Beef moving into luxury realm after steep price rises

It costs a small fortune to put a juicy steak or roast beef on the table, and eye-watering prices show no sign of easing. Prices have been marching upwards since 2019, and in the past year alone are up by 13 per cent to record levels, outstripping any other food category in Australia. Lamb - where prices were already high - rose by just 2 per cent over the past 12 months, chicken by 0.6 per cent, while pork has fallen by about 0.6 per cent. Some consider beef is even becoming a luxury product. The steep rise has been driven by the low supply of livestock across Australia, according to a recent agri-commodity report by ANZ. Farmers and pastoralists have been rebuilding their herds after the drought broke on the east coast. As a result, far fewer cattle are being sold for processing and the shortage of supply has pushed prices to record levels. ANZ’s food, beverage and agribusiness insights director Madeleine Swan said the impact of the pandemic, including the temporary closure of restaurants and cafes, had seen the counter intuitive result of beef consumption actually rising strongly despite price increases, whereas chicken consumption had fallen despite relatively smaller price increases. Dardanup Butchering Company chief executive Mark Panizza said his retail company was still selling as much beef as it produced. “People are still buying beef, and lamb which is also expensive,” Mr Panizza said. “A real contributor at the moments is every West Australian has to remain in the State so they’re entertaining at home. And we’re now entering the barbecue season where there’s traditionally higher demand.” Mr Panizza said DBC, which runs a retail butcher shop, hadn’t changed its wares in response to higher beef prices. However, he was aware of some butchers in Perth no longer putting top-end steaks in their cabinets because they were considered too expensive. While it was expected Australian consumers had a price ceiling for red meat and that further price rises would result in a fall in consumption, Ms Swan says to date that does not appear to be the case. “The strong price increases of the past few years doesn’t seem to have dampened consumers’ enthusiasm for beef,” she said. “Anecdotally, shoppers are increasingly moving to lower priced cuts such as mince and viewing premium cuts such as steak as a luxury item rather than for everyday consumption.”