Grilling season has arrived, and meat prices are causing some concern

DELMARVA – According to officials in the food industry, meat prices have skyrocketed and they’re not showing any sign of slowing down. One restaurant tells 47 ABC, some prices have almost tripled giving them another obstacle to deal with. “It still is affecting us there’s no doubt about it,” says Bryan Hickman, co-owner of Hickman’s Meat Market in Rehoboth Beach. “We’re definitely seeing a lot of the same things a lot of people are.”

Those in the food industry tell us, this year the meat inflation is lasting way longer than before. “Beef has always been more expensive, but it’s also being affected by these price hikes more than anything else,” says Hickman.

Now with people getting out of the house, the food industry says they’re ready to cater to those crowds. However, one family owned restaurant says, these prices could do some damage.” Do you raise the price temporarily, do you raise it permanently, do you take it off the menu? I’m kind of at a loss for what to do with that,” says Nicole Green, owner of The Corner Grill in Snow Hill.

Now with certain meats like ribeye’s, and tenderloins, Hickman says this could pose another issue in the food industry, and better days could be farther down the road than expected. “I’ve seen this before but I’ve never seen it maintained this long, and usually there will be ebbs and flows and we’re just kind of seeing it go full tilt all through the summer,” says Hickman.

Those with the Corner Grill also tells us, food services like ‘door dash’ and ‘grub hub,’ aren’t helping the situation either. They have to buy food, and pay what they say, are an extreme amount of service fees. They say bigger restaurants may be able to handle these expenses “But the small guy definitely can’t, I just think it’s always going to be a rough subject to bring up and people don’t want to necessarily hear what we have to say unfortunately,” says Green’s son and co-owner of Corner Grill, T Scarborough.

Green tells us, she’s worried about not only her restaurant, but all small businesses struggling to stay afloat. “I don’t know what’s going to happen I really don’t,” says Green. “But I do know that if it keeps going up we have to raise prices, and then with the minimum wage continuing to climb, it’s going to force a lot of small businesses I think out.”

Now those in the food industry say, they’re not sure when prices are expected to come back down but they ask customers to be aware, and even try other meats whose prices aren’t being affected.

The owner of the Corner Grill also says, try to purchase your meal directly from the store instead of going through third party apps, because although it provides a fair amount of business it doesn’t help them in the long run.