WINNIPEG – Barbecuing your favourite meat this summer is going to cost you — the prices of pork and beef are on the rise.
Everything from hamburger meat to sirloin steak is up more than 10 per cent from last year. The price of pork is also rising. Pork chops will cost you 16 per cent more than last year, according to Statistics Canada. For example, a centre cut pork chop last year was priced at $6.59. Now the price sits at $8.15.
Food Fare grocery store owner Husni Zeid said in summer, people come in and pick up steak, burgers, hotdogs and pork, but many customers ask about the price.
“They are going for $11 a kilo. Last year they would have been $9.90 a kilo, probably four years ago, $6.59 a kilo,” Zeid explained, holding a packaged sirloin steak.
For local food truck owners and hotdog vendors, the price hike is impacting business.
“We all have problems with paying for my products and getting the money back out of it. People say it’s so expensive … Anywhere else it’s expensive too,” Walt Kalinski said Tuesday.
A pig virus outbreak affecting much of the United States is contributing to the higher cost of meat. The virus has been found in Manitoba, as well, although it hasn’t affected the industry to the extent it’s affected the U.S.
RELATED: New cases of pig-killing virus found in Manitoba
Hog farm closures in Canada have also affected prices.
The Manitoba Pork Council said increased prices are good for their business.
“We are short of pigs in Manitoba. Good thing is prices are up and we are making some money, and hopefully in the long term, we can increase production,” pork council general manager Andrew Dickson said.
Not all meat prices are rising. The price of chicken has actually gone down half a percentage point in the past year, remaining fairly steady since 2010.
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