Skyrocketing Meat Prices Put Pressure on Small Businesses

MENTOR, Ohio (WJW) – A shortage of staff keeps the owners of Barb and Patty’s Butcher Palace in Mentor in the groove.

“Working like we did when we were 20 years old, I mean 5 am until 6:30 pm, sometimes 10 at night to try to get all the work done,” said co-owner Barbara Wisch.

They are also balancing another shortage: their main product.

“Even last fall, everything was just great. Prices had come down, everything was back to normal and then all of a sudden in January, February, March, it was crazy, ”Wisch said.

Meat prices in North America have skyrocketed, putting pressure on small businesses.

“Our plate of dirt used to be 4.99 a pound and now it’s 6.49 a pound,” Wisch said.

You are also putting pressure on customers.

“Everywhere and recently we were in Florida. It’s everywhere, ”said buyer Judy Ursick. “We are all in the same boat.”

Patrick Costello lives and shops in supermarkets in Louisiana.

“Every time I go in, they have gone up a bit. The same goes for gas. The meat has gotten ridiculous, ”he said.

FOX 8 met him while shopping at Mentor Family Foods on Lakeshore Boulevard, where items such as pork and California produce also increased. They have dealt with inflation before and attribute this rise to a perfect storm of trouble.

“You are in a situation right now with the weather, the terrible weather they have in California, the holidays are coming up, the trucking industry with the price of gasoline and there are not enough drivers, all the cost of packaging,” said one of the owners. , PJ Conway.

“People don’t go back to work, they don’t have an incentive to go back,” Wisch added.

These small businesses are doing their best to try to help their customers not feel rushed at the cash register.

“I’ll tell them, ‘Don’t have a top round roast or whatever. Take a look at the round. We have a good deal. We have a lot. $ 4.99 a pound. Get it instead, ”Wisch said.

“You bite the bullet on the first couple of raises, you know because you don’t want to be the first to raise the price. You can’t be the last to raise the price either, because then you’re not here, ”Conway said.

But these long-standing staples of their communities are working hard to stay.

“It will be better. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not next week, but it will get better eventually. It always does,” Conway said.

Both companies are hiring. There is also concern about certain supplies before the holidays.