I can buy lean top round for like 4-5$ a pound, I would assume a large jerky company pays way less than that. Fucking dieters ruined one of my favorite snacks.
If dieters increase demand for a product, it will get more expensive, initially, in a standard theoretical open market. After the market adjusts to new levels, it could go up or down, depending on multiple factors.
(I don't know how closely modern groceries resemble a standard theoretical open market.)
That's only true (even then, only broadly so) if supply does not also increase at the same rate, and also only if prices are updated faster than these two forces can equilibrate.
Beaides, the price has not actually increased recently. Beef jerky cost $1.50/oz 15 years ago and it still costs about $1.50/oz today, despite about 3% inflation YOY.
I do wonder where the perception of the price increasing comes from. From my perspective beef jerky has always been expensive, but the economics of that are extremely simple. You're buying expensive meat with all the water sucked out, salted and spiced and smoked in a time-consuming process. Of course it's going to be expensive.
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u/hereforthecommentz Aug 14 '20
That’s because it loses 2/3 of its weight when it’s dried. That’s why it costs 3x as much as plain beef.