Bacon Prices Increase As Key Supply Hits Historic Low

The U.S. Department of Agriculture gathered data that showed 17.8 million pounds in frozen pork belly inventories back in December 2016. Less than one year ago, America had 62 million pounds of frozen pork belly inventories. The latest record marks the lowest level of supply since 1957. Due to this, bacon prices increased 23.8 percent from the year before and prices rose another 20 percent for the month of January 2017, as reported by CBS News.

The problem - lack of reserves. According to Ohio Pork Council President Rich Deaton, it's not the lack of pigs that is the issue, in fact, farmers are producing more pigs than ever. "Today's pig farmers are setting historic records," he said in an interview with USA Today. "Yet our reserves are still depleting." As production prices rise, it's inevitable that bacon prices paid by the average consumer will follow.

Meanwhile, the council has set up a website BaconShortage.com to keep people informed of the latest in bacon prices and supply. The page reassures readers that contrary to the website's name, the pork industry will not run out of supply. Steve Meyer, vice president of pork analysis for EMI Analytics, affirmed the council's statement and said that although inventory is down dramatically "There's plenty of hogs coming." Further, he said that the U.S. produces almost 75 million pounds of pork belly every week and is optimistic that bacon production will be higher than ever.

Deaton, however, did not expect the widespread panic when they created the site and said that its creation was merely a marketing opportunity. The intent was not to cause panic but to reassure Americans that despite high demands pig farmers have risen up to the occasion and will meet that demand. Although it remains to be seen whether consumers would risk paying more to eat bacon but one this is clear, there is no sight of shortage.