AUSTIN, Texas — Chris Carby is glad to be back at it, cooking meat on his pit outside Branch BBQ in North Austin, reopening his dining area as soon as it was allowed.
"Business is good. I really cannot complain," Carby said.
What Carby isn't happy about is how much more he has to pay for meat. Carby said two weeks ago, he paid $3.17 for a pound of brisket, $1.77 for a pound of ribs, 82 cents for a pound of chicken and $3.12 for a pound of sausage. Today, he's paying $6.51 for a pound of brisket, $2.45 for a pound of ribs, $1.08 for a pound of chicken and $4.12 a pound of sausage.
Experts said there's not a meat shortage but a supply issue. Several meat processing plants have shut down due to COVID-19 outbreaks and deaths, causing production challenges nationwide.
"Well, that that's a hard one to swallow, because, yes, our sales have gone down because of COVID, and then just when you think we're going to be able to start moving forward again with the 25% seating and then hopefully 50%, saying we get hit with meat prices that have gone through the roof," said Carby.
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But it's not just meat prices going up. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, grocery prices jumped 2.6% in April. That's the largest single month jump since February 1974.
The national average went up for dairy, cereal, fruit and vegetables. Meat prices went up the most, by more than 4%.
Carby said he'll wait a couple of weeks to see what happens next. He wants to protect his customers before making any hard decisions.
"So, you know, it's just it's hard."
KVUE contacted Rudy's Country Store and Bar-B-Q, Franklin Barbecue and Stiles Switch BBQ for a comment on this story.
Catherine Stiles of Stiles Switch wrote that there was "not too much to report at the moment."
Stacy Franklin of Franklin Barbecue wrote, "While we do anticipate fluctuation in meat supply, we have not YET encountered a shortage."
Marlis Oliver with K&N Management, the company that owns Rudy's, wrote to KVUE on Thursday, saying, "Rudy's has not experienced any meat supply issues at this time. Prices have increased but we have no plans to pass this on to our guests."
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