MONONA, Wis. — Americans are paying more for bacon today than the last four decades — including if you adjust for inflation. 

What You Need To Know

  • Bacon prices have risen 28% since last year, more than $7/pound

  • Four companies produce two-thirds of pork in the U.S.

  • Supply chain issues for large companies include spread of SARS CoV-2, labor shortage, low pay

  • Butchers who buy from local farmers are thriving

Overall, pork prices have risen 12% since December 2020. In that same timeframe, the cost of beef has risen 14%. 

Data shows two-thirds of pork in America comes from four major companies. Many of them have had huge issues throughout the pandemic.

But bacon is one of the products with the biggest jump in price. The cost of bacon has risen 28% over the last year. It’s now over $7 per pound, on average. 

The cost of bacon has gotten so high, that even independent butchers who source local meat are surprised. 

The crew at Meat People butcher shop in Monona was hard at work Friday. Owner Pip Freeman doesn’t have to pay close attention to the cost of commercially-produced meats, so he was surprised to learn it’s over $7 for a pound of bacon right now. 

“Wow, okay,” he laughed. “That’s surprising. That’s… that’s pretty interesting.” 

A big part of the rising meat costs have to do with the commercial meat industry and the effects of the pandemic. Here in Wisconsin, meat packing plants were some of the first workplace hotspots. 

“The really big plants, the huge commodity plants that like are basically just factories of meat, those got hit the hardest. They had huge amounts of outbreaks, they had a lot of people get really sick and not be able to come back,” Freeman said. “They're also trying to not pay people very well, for this really difficult work.” 

Freeman doesn’t have to worry much about that supply chain. His pork comes from local farmers. His bacon goes through an 8-day curing process. 

“This is a pretty old-fashioned way to do this,” he said while moving bacon from one tub to another. “We just rub it with a cure, just like salt, brown sugar, and curing salt. And then you just have to flip them over, and make sure the cure is in contact with everything all the time.”

They’re a specialty high-end butcher shop, it’s no surprise their bacon is more expensive. It’s $13 per pound. However, unlike mass-produced pork, their prices have stayed the same. 

“Bacon’s eight bucks a pound right now,” Freeman said to one of his coworkers, an obvious smile under his mask. 

“Oh we’re not that far off!” 

The Biden administration said allowing four companies to control two-thirds of our pork supply isn’t fair. Administration officials are nw looking into anti-trust law violations, allegations of price fixing, and want to create programs to help smaller producers.