Climateer Investing: Meat: "Ribeye prices hit record, as quest for fat spreads to meat from dairy"

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Meat: "Ribeye prices hit record, as quest for fat spreads to meat from dairy"

From Agrimoney:

What's your poison?

It isn't just in dairy that fat has come back into vogue, but in meat too – even as consumers in the West, at least, are losing their sweeth tooth.

As Abares, the official Australian commodities bureau, said earlier this week, sugar use "declines are expected in the European Union and the US, where consumers are switching to alternatives such as high-intensity sweeteners".

By contrast, in the US meat sector, fat is back in, according to Steiner Consulting, after "decades of squeezing out flavour and joy from food.

"Whether it is highly marbled choice ribeyes, succulent bacon, inventively flavoured chicken wings, or full fat milkshakes, consumers are voting with their dollars for more flavour," the US-based analysis group said.

Pricey steaks

The case is based on the buoyant pricing of fattier cuts, such as boneless ribeye steaks, which "in the last two weeks has shot up above $10 a hundredweight, an all-time record level", Steiner Consulting said.

The ratio of boneless ribeye steak prices to values of fed steers, at about 8 times, "is dramatically higher than the sub 5x multiple we saw in 2013 and 2014".

The price ratio for lean beef items, by contrast, has been "steady to lower".

Appetite for bacon

And the trend is reflected in the pork complex too, where values of pork bellies, the source of streaky bacon, and pork trimmings had seen a "dramatic shift" relative to the price of hogs.

"Foodservice operators have become consistent large users of bellies, with bacon a preferred flavour enhancer on burgers, sandwiches and even salads."

And when retailers "decide they want to jump on the bandwagon and run $3.99 or $4.99-a-pound specials, the quantity demanded becomes explosive"....MORE

Related:

Credit Suisse: The Smart Money Is Betting On Fat
I knew it!
All our years of research into the tallow/grease/lard complex is going to pay off!
Living high on the hog. Fat and sassy.
Ha!

As noted in May's "Huh, There Goes The Theory of Natural Selection":

First it was cholesterol in the dietary guidelines and now this.
It appears Yeats was right, things fall apart, the centre cannot hold.

From Credit Suisse, September 22:

Fat: The New Health Paradigm

Consumers are making new choices, switching away from carbs to food containing fat such as red meat, butter and eggs. This trend offers powerful investment ideas, according to a study by the Credit Suisse Research Institute.

Over the last 50 years, general nutritional wisdom has recommended a moderate consumption of fat. We have been told to dramatically lower our consumption of saturated fats (contained in butter, lard, milk, red meat, coconut oil…) and cholesterol (found in eggs, poultry, beef…). We have also been advised to increase our intake of polyunsaturated fats (contained in soybean, sunflower, corn, cottonseed oil…) and carbohydrates (found in pasta, bread, sugar…). But fat is a complex topic and these recommendations have been debated and questioned over the past 30 years. Some experts believe that these dietary recommendations – closely followed by the US population – are the main cause behind the country's high obesity levels and the rapidly growing number of people suffering from metabolic syndrome.

Changing Medical Evidence....MORE