Chicken prices at U.S. grocery stores have hit record highs and should stay elevated as Tyson Foods and other companies dial back poultry production to boost margins while inflation-weary shoppers buy chicken instead of beef and pork.
Higher chicken prices should improve earnings at top producers Tyson (TSN.N) and Pilgrim's Pride (PPC.O), but will pinch consumers' pockets as they try to save money by turning away from higher-end proteins. One index shows chicken producer profit margins at their highest in a year.
U.S. consumption of chicken is expected to exceed 100 pounds per person this year for the first time ever, data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows.
Beef consumption is forecast to drop to its lowest since 2018, as prices climb due to dwindling cattle supplies. Meanwhile, consumer spending cuts have knocked pork consumption to the lowest since 2015.
Arkansas-based Tyson, which sells all three types of meat, had to deal with a glut of chicken after earning massive profits when meat prices soared during the COVID-19 pandemic.
I'm talking about exploiting corporate price gouging.
I don't pay for meat. My last grocery bill was for $113 for a week's worth of food. I know you chicken eaters can't beat that.
It doesn't matter that "people need to eat" is an irrefutable truth. It's bullshit. Meat is optional and you know it, so you use the "iRrEfUtAbLe tRuTh" as if it's a competent smokescreen for repeating the same conclusion as before.
90% of the things you do and own are optional, and the environmental impact from meat is miniscule in comparison to you even existing at all. Save your silly caps insults for somebody else, vegetarian-farmer-troll-man haha.
The advice is given. Keep paying for less food if that's what you think is the smartest thing to do.