The strange economics of pig meat: Ham prices are down, but bacon’s up

Shoppers in the meat aisle may have noticed something weird last month: Bacon prices are sizzling, but ham’s not so hot.

Shoppers in the meat aisle may have noticed something weird last month: Bacon prices are sizzling, but ham’s not so hot. Bacon is more expensive than it was a year ago, with prices up 6.9% from May 2023 to May of this year, according to inflation data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Pork chops were up too, by 4.6%. But ham prices were lower, falling 5.4% overall and dropping 6.3% when you exclude canned varieties. What gives? Econ buffs may remember that prices are set according to supply and demand. You’d expect any supply issues — like too many hogs, or too few — to cause prices of each of the items to move up or down, all in the same direction. The discrepancy, then, must be caused by differences on the demand side. And it is: Demand for domestic pork has grown in recent years outside of the US. But rising demand, plus the same or reduced supply, should push prices up, not down. So again, what gives?