Can someone please help me understand why we are all sitting back and just accepting that with little to no valid explanation, our meat bills will just go up between 30% and 80%?
Imagine you are an an employer (perhaps you are one). You walk into your office and an employee comes by and says “You’ve been paying me $20 an hour until now, but because I want more money instead of a 3-10% raise, I want a 30-80% raise.” How would you react? I know that I would politely escort the individual out and inform them that there’s a faster chance that pigs will fly.
Why is this any different? There’s certainly some difference. We rely on meat, so we can’t just say no; however, we can, should and must protest this.
How? Very simply. Go to your local store, stock up on all the meat you’ll need for the next 3 or 4 weeks, freeze it, and under no circumstances buy any meat for 3 weeks. The stores, distributors, etc., will very quickly get the message – after they lose hundreds of thousands of dollars – that we will not just sit back and accept this absolute insanity.
The ripple effect that this will have, even on people that can afford the increase, is massive. All the tzedaka organizations that give people food will now have to raise much more; your child’s camp bill will significantly go up; your child’s Bar Mitzva expenses will increase; and the bill for chasunos will exponentially rise. We will all suffer because we are sitting back and not saying or doing anything.
WAKE UP NOW BEFORE ITS TOO LATE!
Signed,
A simple human being.
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29 Responses
“Eat no meat while the Trust is taking meat from the bones of your women and children.”
That wasn’t written recently, it was written in 1902 by frum women on the Lower East Side, as a call to boycott those who raised the price of kosher meat by 50%. Not Emma Goldman types, more like your average housewife. Today, maybe the second reference to meat should be substituted for dough. Nonetheless, the point stands.
Big ag needs to get a message!
We will all eat fish until the prices go down.
Meat is not going up 70%. Solomons meat is having an issue that’s all.
Under normal circumstances, the market would self correct. Non domestic meat, or domestic suppliers that are not raising their price accordingly, would sell their product, and the supplier who is leading the rate raise (the single largest supplier unfortunately) would lose market share. They would then be forced with a choice of either selling much less product, or lowering their prices to compete.
However, in our limited market, their is a large percentage of people of affluence that either won’t notice the price increase or won’t care.
The fast meatboard crowd were paying absurd prices until now to make whatever social statement they hoped to express. Opulent restaurants are so full you can’t get a reservation in certain towns. The difference in the bill won’t matter to that crowd. It might even enhance what they perceive to be their social status, ie. big spenders.
I’m afraid that the middle class will not be able to outweigh the besserer menchen.
Of equal concern is the Kashrus credibility going forward. A non scrupulous store or supplier trying to satisfy his customers and maintain prices at a reasonable level, may be tempted to supplement his supply from non kosher sources. This has unfortunately happened previously.
It will take the wisdom of Solomon to resolve this.
Maybe we need to sit back and get all the facts first before passing judgement on others – it’s a Chiyuv d’ Oraysa. There are many factors that cause prices to fluctuate. No honest producer of consumables is eager to raise the prices of their products for no justifiable reason, especially if it is going to hurt and possibly anger their consumer base. Let’s not be hasty – especially before Tisha B’Av.
Unfortunately,people will not stick together to lower the prices. It was suggested a few years ago to not buy gas for 1 day, imagine 1 day and people epyld not stick together. The only way is not to buy meat, people must stick together
Is the author naive enough to think that the price increases are done arbitrarily? Is the author presumptuous enough to believe that the meat distributors don’t understand the basic economics of supply and demand?
Insurance costs are rising.
Covid incentives are gone.
Transportation costs are rising.
Cattle prices are rising.
Most of all, labor prices are skyrocketing.
Meat was once considered a luxury. We all, myself included, must wean ourselves of the “American luxuries” and get back to focusing on what’s really important. If the cost of meat it too high, use chicken, turkey or beans.
It really needs to come from our leaders and politicians!
My grandparents told me that it the alte heim, when fish prices were being raised the leaders said not to buy fish for Shabbos. Just imagine ALL roshei yeshivah, all rabbunim, all rebbes (at home and at tish), all chadorim, all mesivta, would stop buying any form of meat for just a month.
Me and you abd a few protesters, will have no effect! If we DO protest to our leaders and demand leadership, watch the power of that and siyata dishmaya, of course!!!
No one was engaging in these types of hafganos while the price of tofu and other soy and pea-based proteins increased nearly 60% over the past year.
Whatever boycott is done it will have to last until after simchas torah for the companies to feel the pinch
I agree! Time to put an end to this
If only the kashrus industry wasn’t aligned with these interests.
If you (& many others) buy 3 weeks of meat it won’t be long before it’s sold out. So people who weren’t able to buy meat will have no choice but to buy the meat at the new price. Meanwhile, 3 weeks later you will be out of meat & forced to buy at the new price. So what is accomplished with your plan?
The price of live cattle has gone up 33% this year, and has been climbing for several years now. The supply of live cattle in the US is down to the lowest in 8 years while demand has gone up. There has been severe drought affecting pasture, animal feed such as corn has more than doubled in the last few years, and several other clear factors pushing prices up. All this to say, Solomon’s, and other kosher meat suppliers have been incurring higher costs for a while now, and had been holding out on drastic price hikes for as long as possible. That is why prices are jumping so much at once. Prices on non-kosher meat have been climbing steadily for several years as well. This is not a greed issue, but a reflection of the market affects on supply. A little research would be appropriate before passing such harsh judgement
How much is a pound of fresh trief meat from a cow and then how much do the shochtim and mashgiach want to get paid and how much for trief insurance if some cows are bad take into account that trief meat also hires a couple of people and you might see some big money going for chasunah and fancy houses not for the shochtim or mashgiach but somebody that wants to give tzedaka so what can you do it’s a bitter life only eat kosher and slaughter some cows man
Chevra you missed the boat a long time ago.
The Heimishe distributors fleece the frum conumers with 35%+ markups, while the non jewish distributors work on a 8% markup.
No one said anything till now, why not?
Start buying only OU products with no Heimish hashgocha, watch how you’ll be able to afford the tuition, etc.
Jim doe,
Now kosher meat is world wide, a lot of meat is raised in Uruguay so your defense holds little water
Again, a little research would go a long way. The price increase that was announced specified domestic beef. The meat from South America tends to be of lesser quality and is not as commonly stocked in your local grocery. Some places such as Bingo carry South American beef. The difference in quality and experience is significant. But definitely cheaper.
The price of kosher meat also has to reflect the cost of the shochtim, mashgichim and all of the extra labor that kashering entails. We seem to put these people into a similar window as rebeim and teachers. We expect them to dedicate their careers to these services that we take for granted, but act as if they aren’t justified in earning a parnasa from it. The price of kosher meat is indeed high, maybe too high, but it’s not all without reason
Jim Doe,
Respectfully ask because I don’t know commerce as well:
Does what you state apply to shtreimels too? Meaning: is the material procured so expensive and prone to inflation that it’s justified to pay $8000 per chussen shtreimel? $8000; are we nuts??? I don’t want to get into the shtreimel idea per se and it’s not the place to poke against shtreimels or Borsalinos.
What I’m trying to figure out: if the meat craze is similar to the shtreimel craze as a result of zealots price gouging or is there a MAJOR difference?
If there’s a substantial and reasonable difference, things need to be worked out one way; but if it’s the latter, it’s totally unacceptable and taken advantage from hard earning yidden that are moiser nefesh for the best shchita and cannot serve meat on Shavbis or yom tov.
כל העדה כולם קדושים
Every yid wants to celebrate Shavbis, Yom Tov and simchas with boser vYayin. It’s time to make Seder. And like I said (and for some reason I’m not getting agreement nor rebuttal), we need to cry to our gedolim, which in turn, need to fight the oligarchs in our midst.
Again, if I’m wrong I totally rest my case. Please enlighten me!
A basic google search will show that beef prices are up about 20% in the USA in the past 3 years!!!!
SOMETHING DOES NOT ADD UP!!!!!
And beef prices in URUGUAY are FLAT for the past 3 years!!! Peaked in Feb 2022 but came down, and now is the same price a s 3 years ago!!!
A little less red meat,a bit more exercise probably wouldn’t hurt us.
Our only hope is to vote Democrat!
They have all the solutions!
Please yidden, make a kiddush Hashem and only vote Democrat.
If the price of treff meat and food in general was falling, we would have reason to protest. However prices for food in general are rising. A lot has to do with American macroeconomic policy (print lots of money, which results in rising prices). A lot has to do with rising food prices due to two leading food exporters fighting a war. There were also factors during the Covid19 “epidemic” that resulted in farmers cutting back on herds and reducing calf production, and that reduces supply.
If you think the farmers or meat processors are making unfair profits, you are free to change profession to get rich. I suspect you will be disappointed.
This whole tread is either a bunch of trolls or simply ignoring economics 101. If the price of a good or service is priced higher than you want to pay, than purchase less of it until the market clears at a lower price. The extremely high price increases referenced in the author’s letter are for a narrow subset of meat products. Either purchase lower priced cuts of meat, use one of several beef substitutes now available with decent hashgachos, eat more fish or chicken etc. Yidden in the alte heim were not eating filet mignon every night and were lucky to have a chicken for shabbos. We can get by w/o beef for a while until prices come down.
Time for the OU to certify nonglatt meat again. No need for chumras when the price is too high.
Gadolhadorah:
I hope you’re wrong about the your economic statement. If the kosher meat actually is priced higher to purchase due to a problem with produce, I would take back boycotting because it’s not the fault of the kosher industry.
However, if it’s exploitation, no, you don’t live in a bubble where you decide to raise 30-80 percent above cost. You are part of a community and yes, economics also is affected by populance and society. When you said “until the price comes down”, it’s wrong because it needs to cause the price to come down!
Why would a shtreimel store not make a fortune in bnei brak? It’s the population and society makeup that allows or disallows for price gouging and economic advantages.
In a desert you can charge how much you want for meat but in a kehilla that CAN boycott you, you have no economic advantage.
This is only if cost-profit isn’t compromised. I’d never expect a butcher to lose money or not get a “reasonable” hike in earnings so the community can eat meat for the same expense. It’s to answer your proposed economic statement, where you err to understand this nuance!
I don’t know the meat industry but I live out of town and here are a few things I can say.
A loaf of sourdough challah is under $5
Flanken is $11.90 lb
Chicken breast are $6.50
And brisket is $10.70
So it seems that the market in the NY NJ area is a big factor in some of the crazy prices.
This is not to say that it may not be the result of some additional overhead cost that are not as large in other communities. Ie. Rent and labor. But it definitely seems that the prices are a bit inflated in certain areas.
Stop buying meat. Get a piece of chicken for Shabbos and a tiny piece of busar behaima for YT. Time to force the sellers to bring down their prices.
Btw the Lakewood / Tom’s River baalabatim are going crazy now because they’re going to have to take out loans to impress their friends with fancy meat boards