Beef Demand Driving Sales for Many Grocery Stores

DENVER, CO – Though consumers seem to have been hoarding toilet paper and hand sanitizer over the past few weeks, meat has been the leading sales driver for the perimeter of the retail store. According to IRI, a market research company, beef sales for the week ending March 22nd in the retail counter are up more than 90 percent, year-over-year. While those numbers have moderated somewhat, they are still considerably higher than they were for the same period in 2019. Buck Wehrbein, a feedlot manager from Nebraska and chairman of the Federation of State Beef Councils says “market research and market intelligence staff members are keeping a close eye on what is going on in retail and foodservice channels, as well as how consumers are responding and what they need from us.” Those figures can seem frustrating to producers who feel they have not received a fair share, he says, but they do help demonstrate the checkoff is doing its job, which is to strengthen beef demand. Currently, USDA, the CFTC, and the Justice Department are investigating why recent increases in the boxed beef markets are not showing strength down-stream to the futures and cash cattle markets.