What Were Beef Price in 1974
Beef Prices in City Down to 1973 Level, But Market Basket Cost Rises to $58.91
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April 4, 1974
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In contrast to general inflation; beef prices in the city's supermarkets were reported down yesterday to levels of a year ago—a continuing slide asince February attributed to increased supply and some consumer resistance to buying beef.
Nathan Herschberg, a State Agriculture Department market‐ analyst, said six of eight beef cuts in 40 supermarkets were at the same or lower levels as in the first week of April last year—when the high prices of meat inspired an attempted consumer boycott.
Mr. Herschberg said the boycott "alerted the consumer to many satisfying alternatives to meat." In Chicago the American Meat Institute said national eating of beef was down this year by a half‐pound from the 82‐pound‐annual rate of a year ago, with 2.58 per cent of consurnerincome after taxes going to beef as against 2.61 per cent a year ago.
Market Basket Up
The weekly survey of the City Department of Consumer Affairs reported meat prices for the week ended last Friday down 0.7 per cent, including chuck steak down 3 cents, to 98 tents a pound, and bottom round roast down 8 cents, to $1.71
However, the over‐all 38‐item market basket to feed a family of four went up 5 cents to $58.91 after five weeks of decline that had witnessed a decrease of $2.39.
Retail leaders asserted they had, been passing along the recent declines in prices paid to cattle‐raise and packers. A charting of the city market basket's beef prices since the surveys started last May 9 indicated that their ups and downs had paralleled prices of live cattle in Omaha and Midwest prices of carcasses.
Live cattle cost 44.85 cents a pound in the week ended last May 5, and 41.50 cents last Monday. Carcasses had fallen from 67.50 cents to 65. Chuck steak, bone‐in, averaged $1.02‐ in a composite of super. markets and butcher shops here then, 98 cents last week.
In between, there had been peaks last August after removal of price controls on all foods but beef by President Nixon in July was followed by a holding back of cattle from market and a shortage.
Prices Take Plunge
Prices plummeted when an oversupply glutted the market after the Sept. 10 end of beef price controls, and soared again last February when supplies were held up or forced to costlier trains or risk‐taking trucks during a trucker strike.
An analysis of United States Department of Agriculture "Price Spreads for Farm Foods" indicated farmer shares of the retail beef price were 67 to 71 per cent from January 1973, through July. They leaped to 75 per cent in August, and then fell to 61 and 59 per cent later last year. They were 68 and 63 per cent, respectively, in January and February.
Wholesaler‐retailer shares, ranged from 25 to 27 per cent through last July. They rose to 33 per cent last November, and approximated 31 per cent in December, 25 per cent in January and 28 per cent it February.
Dr. Wendell Earle, professor of marketing at the Carmel University College of Agriculture who publishes an annua survey of food chains said beef represented about a fourth of supermarket sales.
"Retailers have not beer price‐gouging" lie said yesterday. Their gross margins, as a percentage of sales, he said had gone down from a high of 22.5 per cent in the year ended April 30, 1965, to 21.46 per cent in 1967–68 and 20.93 per cent in 1972–73.
Their profits went down from 1.4 per cent of sales to 0.5 per cent, he said, despite "five years of tremendous inflation." Because of the large number of competitive stores, Professor Earle held the supermarkets could not increase prices to keep up with inflation.
Safeway Stores, mainly west of the Mississippi, reported that Western and Midwestern retail beef prices were "averaging a shade below a year ago," although carcass costs are about the same as a year ago.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/1974/04/04/archives/beef-prices-in-city-down-to-1973-level-market-basket-up-prices-take.html
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