Meat, coffee prices have consumers asking ‘Where’s the beef?’

You might not know it by the loss leaders featured in this week’s grill-happy supermarket fliers, but the price of humble hamburger meat is on the rise.

So is the cost of coffee. J.M. Smucker Co. recently announced that prices for its Folgers and other coffee brands are going up 4 percent.  And as we’ve reported before, other household staples such as sugar, cotton and orange juice are more expensive this year, too.

It’s not unusual for food and energy prices to be volatile.  But some items are showing a marked jump that exceeds the annualized inflation rate of 2.2 percent, according to this latest Consumer Price Index report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Drilling down into the reasons behind price fluctuations on common purchases is one way to illustrate the ebb and flow of our economy in an easy-to-digest way.

It’s also a good way to do an engaging shopper story. Talk with real consumers about what they’re seeing at the market, how they are coping and what substitutes they select.  This is definitely a great topic for an online reader poll, comments area or other interactive feature.

As this recent Wall Street Journal article points out, ground beef prices are up 15 percent to 30 percent over this time last year – leading fast-food chains to absorb the increase for fear of spooking pinched patrons. It’s also prompting them to push other items such as hot dogs and wings.

What a great story to localize! Head to your local commercial strip, and check out the specials and featured items at all of the national chains. Talk with independent restaurateurs and franchisors about their ground beef supply and what they are doing to keep the high cost of cattle from eroding profits.  (Don’t forget about taverns and bars that are famous for their ground rounds.)

And of course, qui bono?  Who benefits?  Are chicken distributors reaping the benefits of the higher beef prices?  Are chefs going for alternatives such as ground ostrich or tofu burgers?  What’s the average restaurant profit margin on a sirloin and baked potato, and when do they get too pricey to keep on the menu?

Factors, by the way, include fewer cattle, falling imports and even, by some reckoning, ripple effects of the Gulf oil disaster.  The thinking there is that restaurant patrons and shoppers eschewing suspect seafood may treat themselves to premium beef instead, skewing demand.  Check out this AgWeb post for some insight into restaurant industry qualms.

For detailed information about ground beef prices and other commodities, go to the BLS Consumer Price Index page and scroll down to the database section.  You can customize your own search, but just by clicking on “Top Picks,” you’ll get a market basket of items and historical price ranges.  Compare these prices to local trends. Talk with suppliers about what affects checkout costs in your area, and you’ve got a great consumer-interest piece.

Another fascinating (and more timely) source of data: The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s daily reports on beef and other foodstuffs.  “This week in beef retail,” for example, offers comparative data on the average prices of just about any cut of cow you can imagine, along with information about how heavily advertised certain cuts were and other historical demand data. Poke around on the site. Similar reports are available for all sorts of livestock – more than you really want to know, actually, about tallow and hides and such.  Just avert your eyes, and click on the things you’d recognize on supermarket shelves.

This report, for example, covers the past week’s retail activity in fruits and vegetables – including advertised prices, promotional activity and other store-level factors.  It’s an amazing array of data collected in a short period, which can help your stories be more timely and immediate — and arm you with fodder for savvy questions to ask local merchants.

Other sources for food stories would include the industry councils for commodities and edibles, as well as trade publications such as Progressive Grocer, RestaurantNews.com and Nation’s Restaurant News.  If you’re near an agricultural school, talk with food-supply experts there, as well as truckers that handle groceries and home economists at your land-grant university’s extension service.

Other resources are in my previous blog post about coffee and cocoa futures.