Egg prices have increased nearly 250% from 84¢ to $2.93 for a dozen in the US this year, making huevos a better investment than gold (and every major stock index) in 2020.
On the other side of the skillet, prices for pork belly — the cut used for makin’ bacon — decreased 56% in just the last 2 weeks, hitting their lowest price since 1999.
So… why is one side of the breakfast plate cooling off while the other sizzles?
Restaurants and supermarkets rely on separate sources to buy ingredients.
Some food products are generally in demand just among restaurant suppliers (like foie gras) or supermarket suppliers (like Lucky Charms). Others are in demand at both — but tend to be more popular at one than the other.
In the past, both eggs and bacon were supermarket-centric.
But pork-belly products became more restaurant-centric — menus were filled with bacon-wrapped everything.
Market shifts usually impact both supply chains fairly equally. But this pandemic had an unusual impact on restaurant and supermarket suppliers:
Restaurant food suppliers are starting to sell their restaurant ingredients to supermarkets to stay afloat: