Americans are buying less pork

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Pork demand fell about 10% in the third quarter from the same time last year, according to data analyzed in a recent pork industry webinar by Lee Schulz, an economist and professor at Iowa State University. Even though pork prices are no longer rising, they remain at historic highs that consumers aren’t willing to pay.

American consumers’ wages also buy them significantly less pork than it did before the pandemic—11% less ham, 12% less pork chops, and 6% less bacon, to be exact. That’s even with wages rising faster than inflation.

High prices will continue to dampen demand into 2024.

“As we approach 2024, the Meat Demand Monitor continues to signal that the vast majority of US households are worried about their finances, and this is weighing on domestic meat demand,” Glynn Tonsor, a professor of agricultural economics at Kansas State University, told Quartz. “I anticipate these macroeconomic forces to continue being a headwind for domestic meat demand at least early in 2024.”


PigUA.info by materials qz.com