The soaring prices of meat and fish

Cinzia Cuneo October 15, 2014 Meat, Save Money

The price of red meat continues to rise after the summer of barbecues. And this is also the case with fish.

I make these statements not because I’ve read scholarly articles on oil prices, the value of the Canadian dollar or the state of agricultural production, but rather because I see it week after week in the task of retail price analysis that we systematically carry out at SOSCuisine.

In fact, for over eight years now, we’ve been following the price trends of around 1,000 products in about 60 banners in Canada, including 17 in Quebec. These are mainly unprocessed fresh foods, because such items are essential for a healthy diet. Every week, our database is fed with details of these products that appear in the flyers of each banner.

So the former now contains tons of data that we use to evaluate flyer specials and to specify which specials are actually genuine, i.e., items offered at really great prices. In the flyer comparison table we publish on our site for our members, a thumbs up symbol (icon) means that the price is right, i.e., rare. Two thumbs up means that the price is really great, i.e., very unusual and therefore not to be missed and stocking up on the product is advisable.

The media often gets in touch with us for certain information about food prices. They actually acknowledge our expertise and know that we have a unique database.

Here’s a selection of graphs we generated last week for one of these media. They cover the period between January 2013 and September 2014, i.e., 21 months.

In short, here’s a summary of what can be observed in these graphs:

Beef, ground, medium-lean:

– floor price in 2013 (8 instances, i.e. relatively frequent): $1.99/lb = $4.39/kg

– last instance of this floor price: early December 2013

– new floor price 1st semester 2014: $2.49/lb = $5.49/kg;

– new floor price 2nd semester 2014: $2.99/lb = $6.59/kg;

In conclusion: the floor price has increased by 25%.

Chicken breast, boneless, skinless:

– floor price in 2013 (3 instances, i.e. rare): $2.99/lb = $6.59/ kg

– last instance of this floor price: early May 2014

In conclusion: we can expect an increase, especially by observing the amplitude of price fluctuations in the flyers.

Pork tenderloin:

– floor price (2 instances in 2013, 1 instance in 2014, i.e. very rare and only for frozen): $1.99/lb = $4.39/kg

– advantageous price very frequently available: $2.99/lb = $6.59/kg

In conclusion: we cannot yet say that there has been a price increase

Salmon fillet:

– floor price in 2013 (2 instances, i.e. very rare and likely frozen, even if not mentioned in the flyer): $4.99/lb = $11.00/kg

– floor price in 2014 (2 instances, i.e. very rare): $5.99/lb = $13.21/kg

– advantageous price very frequent 1st semester 2013: $5.99/lb = $13.21/kg

– advantageous price very frequent 2nd semester 2013: $6.99/lb = $15.41/kg

– advantageous price very frequent 1st semester 2014: $7.99/lb = $17.61/kg

In conclusion: a) the floor price has increased 20%, b) the advantageous price very frequent has increased 15% in 12 months and 33% in 18 months.

During the analyzed period, there were some items such as butter and seasonal fruits (e.g. apples) whose price remained stable. Which is great news.

The other good news is that supermarket flyers have never been so popular and it is therefore still possible to get your hands on products at really great prices – provided you know how to do add up properly! This is where we come in with our SOS Plus and SOS Premium services.

Happy shopping!

Author

Cinzia Cuneo

Cinzia Cuneo, founder of SOSCuisine.com, never wanted to neglect the quality of her food. She shares her special expertise to make good food quickly and without complications!