CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The recent closing of Primal Butcher in Albany is raising questions about the cost of beef, and whether small shops can keep up. NEWS10’s Amber Fisher looked into what’s driving prices up, and what it means for consumers.
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David MacVane, Co-Owner of Fred the Butcher, said that his business has been doing well, but due to the increasing price of beef, he has been forced to cut carefully and limit waste to control costs.
David explained, saying, “You can’t put a lot of meat out. You can’t over cut things that you don’t sell. So you have to be really, really good and really, really precise today when you’re paying that much product, that much pricing for your product.”
David said that this has become a problem since COVID, “Just on average, some meat, some chuck meat or some hindquarters meat, we were paying $2.50 to $3 a pound. Now it’s about $4, $4.50, and I just don’t know if it’s ever going to go back to where it was.”
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