Where's The Beef?

Are meat shortages making a comeback?

Walking the aisle of your local grocery store, you may be noticing that certain products are in short supply or have increased in price.. While the early toilet paper hoarding days of the pandemic are firmly behind us, the supply chain is still struggling in other areas. One area of particular interest to us here at BinksBerry Hollow: meat shortages.

Just like any supply chain problem, the current meat shortages can’t be traced back to one particular incident. Rather, there are a few factors that play into the meat shortages you might be seeing. 

So where’s the Beef?

First, we are still seeing ripple effects from COVID-19. Throughout the pandemic, meat plants across the country were periodically shutting down due to coronavirus outbreaks among their employees. Meatpacking plants often require employees to work in very tight quarters, meaning the virus was more easily spread between them. These temporary shutdowns led to less meat being produced overall. We are still seeing the ripple effects of these shutdowns well into 2021, with meat shortages and higher prices being reported in many areas.

Secondly, one of the world’s largest meat processing companies, JBS, was recently the subject of a cyber attack. The attack was first reported on May 30th, 2021. In the days following the attack, JBS was forced to close at least 10 US based plants as they regrouped and beefed up their security. Every day that these plants were closed means less meat being processed, which causes the meat shortages you as the consumer may be experiencing. The majority of these plants have since resumed operations, but like we discussed above, even small disruptions can cause ripple effects that lead to larger shortages.

One thing that isn’t in short supply: living animals ready to be butchered and sold to the public. When you see less meat on the shelves at your local grocery store, consider turning to a local farmer for your meat shopping. Not only will you be getting fresher meat, but you will also have peace of mind knowing that the meat you’re eating lived a happy life before it came to your table. What could be better than that?

Here at the Hollow even though we do use a USDA abattoir for our processing and have a professional certified butcher shop on farm that maintains the highest standards, we are not part of the industrial meat supply chain…. so there in no meat shortage at The Hollow.

By working with a small group of local farmers and purchasing whole cattle then having them processed 15 minutes away from our farm in a USDA-certified abattoir and butchering we are always well-stocked for our customers.

We Look forward to seeing you at The Hollow.

Binks