Increasing costs in the beef supply chain

Beef prices keep going up a noticeable amount in grocery stores. For Bloomberg, Ilena Peng, Denise Lu, and Stephanie Davidson charted how increasing costs in the supply chain feed into the dollar amount that we see at the end.

To demonstrate with relatable units, they follow the timeline of a single calf as it moves from ranch, to stocker, feedyard, meatpacker, grocer, and consumer. Illustrations provide a visual anchor through the process.

Chicken overtook beef in 2004. It doesn’t seem like that’s going to let up any time soon.