As summer edges in, the folks at Corralitos Market & Sausage Co. and Freedom Meat Lockers are dealing with rising meat prices as the industry and customers across the nation adjust to higher costs, soaring gas prices and more.
“I feel like the prices have gone through the roof,” said Sarah Lewis, general manager at Freedom Meat Lockers. “And to top it off, I feel like there’s a big supply and demand shift happening right now. Even with skirt steak; we’re trying to get the product that we like and are really comfortable with that we want to serve our customers. And then we get a sample case from a new company and it is simply not what we want, so we send it back. It’s harder to find the level of quality that we want at a reasonable price.”
Lewis added that the price hike is “denting into what products” are out there.
“We’re fortunate enough to have wonderful suppliers, and they’re doing the best they can to get us the price we feel comfortable with,” Lewis said. “It’s challenging. We’ve been running into a lot of folks trying to get that quality that customers want with the price that they can afford,”
Victor Silva at Freedom Meats said that ”everything’s going up.”
“Everything across the board—beef, pork products or chicken, chicken breast. For example, we’re charging 50 cents less than what we paid. Who else does that?”
In response, one adjustment the company offers, Lewis says, is the business’s ever-changing Variety Bag for $99.
“It easily has $120 to $150 worth of products,” she said. “It’s one way to get people high quality stuff that they can use, but that won’t break the bank. And it’s easier on the customer because it means fewer trips to the store. So buying in bigger numbers saves you.” A typical bag features chicken, skirt steak, ribs, Cornish game hens, ground beef — a list that changes each month.
One big plus, Lewis added: “We won Best of Show for our Italian mozzarella basil sausage. That’s something folks are coming in and asking for. It was at the California Association of Meat Processors. It won best out of the entire convention. Also new at the counter is our marinated butter chicken thighs. And we have a brand new marinade, mango habanero. We think it’s sensational.”
Meanwhile, at Corralitos Market & Sausage Co., owner Dave Petersen, said he has been adjusting to spikes in meat prices.
“My first highest cut of meat is filet mignon,” he said. “Now number two, unbelievably, is skirt steak. Number three is prime rib. It used to be vice versa. Prime rib was a cheaper cut, but now it’s supply and demand because they’re shipping it overseas.”
He explained that a butcher can only get about four pounds of skirt steak out of an 800-pound “hanging, dressed beef.”
“And people don’t realize that,” he said. “They think there’s 20, 30, 50 pounds of skirt steak there. But there’s not. And so people are saying ‘you guys are charging so much money.’ It’s not us. That’s the way it is; it’s the whole chain.’”
He added that meat companies are also tacking on higher gasoline prices by charging a “fuel fee” just for a delivery. This is brand new. And you’re seeing that everywhere, too. Cause your cereal, spices, whatever—everything gets here by gas.”
Petersen added that in earlier times, people would come in and “it’d be nothing to buy 20 pounds of skirt steak for a family party. Well, you can’t do that anymore. And it’s just not me. It’s everywhere.”
Peterson said that on the upside, he’s featuring a new Harbinero pineapple sausage.
“We also had a chicken mango and we’re doing that one with a Harbinero too; it almost sounds hot, but it’s really not. It’s just got a nice kick to it.”
He said that he’s just introduced new pork riblets.
“They are so easy to grill,” he said. “And we’ve got a whiskey bourbon marinade that we came up with. It’s really, really good.”
Corralitos Market & Sausage Co. is at 569 Corralitos Road in Corralitos, and Freedom Meat Lockers is at 160 Hi Grade Lane in Watsonville.
