Chicken prices at U.S. grocery stores have hit record highs and should stay elevated as Tyson Foods and other companies dial back poultry production to boost margins while inflation-weary shoppers buy chicken instead of beef and pork.

Higher chicken prices should improve earnings at top producers Tyson (TSN.N) and Pilgrim’s Pride (PPC.O), but will pinch consumers’ pockets as they try to save money by turning away from higher-end proteins. One index shows chicken producer profit margins at their highest in a year.

U.S. consumption of chicken is expected to exceed 100 pounds per person this year for the first time ever, data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows.

Beef consumption is forecast to drop to its lowest since 2018, as prices climb due to dwindling cattle supplies. Meanwhile, consumer spending cuts have knocked pork consumption to the lowest since 2015.

Arkansas-based Tyson, which sells all three types of meat, had to deal with a glut of chicken after earning massive profits when meat prices soared during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    • 🖖USS-Ethernet
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      8 months ago

      cry more

      Cool solution to the problem.

      You’re OG comment insinuated that eating plants is cheap, yet you didn’t take into account the possibility that you either a) make more than others. b) live in a lower cost of living area than others. c) live in a great area that has many options for food diversity. d) that every store near you always has stock of everything you want and maybe other places aren’t so fortunate.

      Our area is so over populated, we have to go to like 5 grocery stores throughout the county every week to get everything we want/need.

      Maybe don’t be so close minded and consider that where you live and what you pay is available to everyone.