10 Tips to Find the Cheapest Meat for Family Meals

Meat has long been the most expensive item on our plates, but prices for chicken, beef and pork have jumped even higher as the pandemic moves into its third year. The sticker shock at the grocery store is real.

At the end of 2021, beef was about 20% higher than the year before. Chicken prices had risen about 8.5% and pork was up nearly 17%, according to the US Bureau of Labor statistics. The increases continued into 2022.

The reasons are many:

• Supply chain issues.
• Bottlenecks at processing plants because of labor shortages and COVID shutdowns.
• Lousy growing weather in parts of the country translated to higher feed prices.
• Rising energy costs.

Whatever could go wrong, seems to have gone wrong. And we are paying for it at the grocery store.

While we understand that inflation is hitting food prices hard, we still would still like an occasional ribeye steak, and chicken even more often without having to take out a second mortgage.

Here’s some good news: By the Fourth of July, prices are expected to mostly level off with a much smaller increase overall this year. Like 4% more for beef rather than double-digit increases of 2021.

10 Ways to Shop for the Cheapest Meat

While these tips have been collected in response to sharp pandemic-related increases, they are good to have handy for budget grocery shopping anytime. Here are ways you can enjoy beef, chicken and pork for more reasonable prices.

1. Buy Wholesale Meat

Wholesale meat suppliers often sell to restaurants and grocery stores, but anyone can walk in off the street and buy meat in bulk.

Check your zip code in the Wholesale Meat Supplier Directory.

By shopping at a local wholesaler, you can get months’ worth of beef, pork, chicken and fish for less than grocery store prices, and it should fit in a standard-sized freezer.

This covers most meals each week, and dramatically cuts down grocery-store meat purchases.