You may have to pay a little more for your steaks and burgers for your Labor Day cookouts this weekend compared to last year, but the beef sales in the area are not slowing down any. Many local meat sellers are boosting their production to keep up with the demand. Nationally, Tyson Foods reported last month that beef sales jumped 24 percent for the third quarter alone. Mark Marchant, owner of Marchant’s Meat & Sausage in Sturgeon Bay, says the demand for beef in the past few weeks in the store has gone up considerably.
Marchant adds that people are buying products and eating at home more even though prices have increased. He notes that customers are stocking up on hamburgers and brats, especially with more steak sales towards the weekend. As far as the supply chain, Marchant says the store has been able to get plenty of beef with no problem, but pork and pork bellies have been especially challenging going back to early last year when pigs were euthanized due to impacts brought on by the pandemic.