CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Wednesday's Protecting Your Money segment is about the rising cost of meat, and its impact on not only the consumer, but also the people selling it. Meat markets, as well.
And did you know that how well the Cowboys are playing also has an impact, as well?
We're in the freezer at Moody's Meat Market on the city's Southside with Terry Moench, the owner. And we're talking about why meat prices are up and how that's impacting his customers and his business; which has been in Corpus Christi since 1964.
Moench says prices have always fluctuted. For instance:
- Bone-in sirloins are up almost two dollars.
- Fajitas are up considerably from two years ago.
And guess what?
"Somebody is gonna pay for it, and it's always the consumer who winds up paying for everything," he told us.
Interestingly, Moench mentions the crisis in Eastern Europe as a factor in rising costs.
Less demands for exports, which puts a damper on profits for the meat packing plants, who in turn raise their prices, which trickles all the way down to places like Moody's, and eventually to consumers.
"Makes it real hard to schedule and hard to make a profit is what it's made it really hard to do. And to keep it at a reasonable price so the customer can afford it."
Michael Homan, a longtime customer, says the higher prices force consumers to make choices.
"I think you just take it away from something else. To give you the lifestyle that you want. I mean, you don't have to eat cow all of the time. You just gotta spread it out a little bit. You don't do it as often," he said.
At Boarri's Craft Butchery on South Staples, owner Nathan Lovenovsky is seeing the same thing.
"So we've seen price per pound in terms of how I'm buying. An increase of about 40 percent."
And meat's not the only price increase. Ancillary costs, like shipping, are up as well.
Kind of tough for a business that only been open since September 2021.
So Kolenovsky says he sometimes make suggestions to his customers to help them offset the rising cost of fuel. But for Lei Labin, who's shopping here for the very first time, price increases are not an issue.
"I know what I want. I go and if it's more, it doesn't bother me. I don't give it a thought," Labin said.
Oh, and about the impact the Cowboys have on business?
"When Dallas was in the playoffs, increase," Moench said. "When Dallas was not in the playoffs, decrease. 'Is that a fact?' Absolutely," he said.
