Brisket prices rising. What are you going to do?

[landarc]

Cost of basic ingredients go up, prices have to go up, until nobody buys the item.

I disagree with why the prices are going up bizznessman, at least in CA, it has nothing to do with policy, there is just no water and no feed.

I suspect at least for the West Coast, the price of all meats are going to sky rocket in a month and everyone will have to adjust their budgets.

[AZScott]

I have been using a high end prime product and am looking at what all the big vendors can offer. So far I havent had any luck. I'm also adding better desserts and working on a couple "special"sandwiches to bring my overall costs down. Thankfully, i never positioned myself as a cheap place to eat but instead made it known we focus entirely on quality. We do almost everything in house with a bare bones crew. If I was bloated I'd be looking at labor costs. IMO, you have little control over the cost of food as long as your waste is low and people aren't stealing from you. We shall see how this turns out but long term we need some changes in the weather patterns for an extended period of time along with resolving the pig virus. Unfortunately, both of those take time.

[marubozo]

Originally Posted by FlavorSavor

I sell $8 brisket sandwiches and $16 pounds. I've always viewed brisket as a sacrificial item. I make up for it on sides.

That's how I look at it. Brisket is one of my top sellers and I'm already charging $9 for a sandwich and $16/lb, which is at raw product coming in at $2.89/lb. Saw prices go up 10 cents this week and I'll keep prices where they are because it's one of the top sellers that bring people in, and it's making money elsewhere.

May have to bump prices a bit if beef continues to go up, but I don't mind brisket being a loss leader if it gets people in the door.

[BigBellyBBQ]

brisket will always be on my menu, the customers understand, however they still bitch

[FlavorSavor]

Got an order in this morning. $2.12 on butts and $3.60 briskets. If it keeps going up like this it's going to hurt.

[HBMTN]

Butts are at $2.12 and whole packers at $3.18 here. I was told this evening by my food rep they expect another $0.40 hike this week in pork and don't expect it to go down at all this year. They told me to adjust my pricing which I did. One bad thing about getting lots of bookings early is that I'll be taking a hit on about 25 events that I have already booked this year. I had a buffer built into my pricing but this way shattered it.

[Bamabuzzard]

Originally Posted by HBMTN

Butts are at $2.12 and whole packers at $3.18 here. I was told this evening by my food rep they expect another $0.40 hike this week in pork and don't expect it to go down at all this year. They told me to adjust my pricing which I did. One bad thing about getting lots of bookings early is that I'll be taking a hit on about 25 events that I have already booked this year. I had a buffer built into my pricing but this way shattered it.

Man that blows. I know several guys around my area that own small local Q joints and they are holding out as long as they can with continuing to carry brisket on their menus because of the rising prices. One of the guys I talked to said he's more than likely not going to continue carrying brisket "until the customer stops buying it" because that would mean he'd more than likely have a bunch of meat in the back that he'd have to take a loss on just to get rid of it. So he's more than likely going to make an arbitrary decision on the next price hike to stop carrying it. I hate it for these guys.

[cynfulsmokersbbq]

Originally Posted by Jeff Therrell

I started using chuck roll instead of brisket, it's $3.10 per pound but the yield is far better. All of my customers like it a lot better than brisket. We can't get very good briskets around here. I cook it to med. rare and if they want it more done I just throw it on the flat top.

What is a chuck roll?
Where do you purchase at? Do they carry them at Sam's?

Thanks

[Bamabuzzard]

Originally Posted by cynfulsmokersbbq

What is a chuck roll?
Where do you purchase at? Do they carry them at Sam's?

Thanks

http://butcherinfoblog.blogspot.com/...huck-roll.html

[kurtsara]

Originally Posted by Jeff Therrell

I started using chuck roll instead of brisket, it's $3.10 per pound but the yield is far better. All of my customers like it a lot better than brisket. We can't get very good briskets around here. I cook it to med. rare and if they want it more done I just throw it on the flat top.

Does chuck roll taste good medium rare?

[DanB]

Hi All Interesting read...http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/02...sing.html?rh=1

[Jeff Therrell]

I buy my chuck roll at restaurant depot. It almost taste like prime rib, super tender, and the yield is a lot better. I smoke it for 5 hours in a pan and then cover it and take it in the house and put it in the oven on 175 for 5 more hours. I cooked a 32# one today and sold it out by 6:00 this evening. I charge the same price as brisket.

[Pyle's BBQ]

Originally Posted by cynfulsmokersbbq

What is a chuck roll?
Where do you purchase at? Do they carry them at Sam's?

Thanks

I think they do have them at Sam's. You may have to ask someone in the meat department.

[Puppyboy]

Pork & brisket are up here.

Had our first event last weekend since we decided to raise our prices.

There were no issues about the increased prices and sold a bunch of sammies.

[bizznessman]

Originally Posted by landarc

Cost of basic ingredients go up, prices have to go up, until nobody buys the item.

I disagree with why the prices are going up bizznessman, at least in CA, it has nothing to do with policy, there is just no water and no feed.

I suspect at least for the West Coast, the price of all meats are going to sky rocket in a month and everyone will have to adjust their budgets.

Landarc, I agree with the "spike" in prices being due to shortages. I was referring more to the escalating general increase in prices. Either way retail price must be increased unless we want to start operating as a hobby instead of a business.