Eat This Newsletter 206: Costs
Hello
It’s all down to supply and demand, although that says nothing about value.
The Cost of Brexit
A report from the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics brings an earlier analysis up to date. The key conclusion:
Between December 2019 and March 2023 food prices rose by almost 25 percentage points. Our analysis suggests that in the absence of Brexit this figure would be 8 percentage points (30%) lower.
The report compares price movements for goods that are more exposed to Brexit (for example those that face high non-tariff barriers) with those less exposed. For example, meat and cheese from Europe has increased 10% more as a result. Since December 2019, this has cost the UK about £6.95 billion, roughly £250 per household.
Eggs (chicken)
The price of eggs in the UK remains about one-third higher than it was a year ago and yes, the price of energy, the price of feed, the price supermarkets offer poultry farmers all factor into the equation. But there are only so many tables and graphs I can read before I glaze over ever so slightly. The Guardian offers a nice counterpoint to the sheer press of numbers and global realities in a long piece that hinges on one egg farmer, Pete Olds of Cornhill Farm in Cornwall, and his admittedly unrepresentative flock of hens.
Sam Wollaston uses his visit to Cornwall Farm to put the egg chain in perspective. Pullets, for example, hens that are about to start laying, are around 20% more expensive than they were a year ago. A bigger factor, though, seems to be the reluctance of most supermarkets to offer contracts that reflect the price of production. A year ago, apparently, free-range egg farmers were losing £0.41 a dozen, and supermarkets refused to pay them more. Many left the business, and now supermarkets are scrambling to pay whatever they must to anyone who is producing free-range eggs. Pete Olds’ solution, like some of his neighbours, was to give up on wholesalers and supermarkets in order to pack and sell his own eggs more or less locally, to farm shops, restaurants and cafés.
To be sure, British supermarkets are likely to continue to offer eggs of one sort or another for the foreseeable future. Once again, though I find myself wondering about the true cost of all that convenience.
In the US, meanwhile, the price of wholesale eggs has, as one outlet put it, “gone splat”. Six months ago, they were $5.46 a dozen. Two weeks ago, they were $0.94. While the retail price has yet to drop that far, it is going down. Why? It’s the old story, more supply, as the industry builds back after avian ’flu and less demand, as shoppers respond to higher prices.
Oh, and by the way, no shortage of profits at America’s largest egg producer, which made 718% more profit in the quarter to 25 February compared to the previous year.
Eggs (fish)
Katie Parla, one of the many expats who specialise in explaining Italy to other expats, has a helpful article on Bottarga and how to use it. Bottarga is cured fish roe, the fish in question usually being gray mullet, less often tuna. Parla explains how the stuff is made and how to use it, and I have to agree that spaghetti con la bottarga can be delicious. It can also be way too salty, especially in a restaurant, so I’m glad she links to her recipe.
Mind you, what I would really like to be able to find here is cod roe, to make taramasalata. I have seen recipes that say you can use mullet bottarga. Maybe I should give that a try, although one recipe points out that “bottarga is a ruinously expensive thing to buy just to rehydrate”. Or just, you know, go to Greece.
Whitewashing Black Barbecue
If you heard last November’s episode about Piggie Park, the South Carolina barbecue joint still trying to come to terms with its racist past, you will have heard Adrian Miller. He has documented the fundamental role played by enslaved African Americans in the development of barbecue, and a newsletter from the Washington Post’s Made by History section reminded me of a piece of his from a couple of years ago. In it, Miller recounts the white takeover of barbecue, at least front of house, and its gentrification, but he also points out that “there is now hope that this might be changing”. He’s also given me a new must visit.
Take care.
p.s. No 10 food summit ‘no more than a PR stunt’ and failed to tackle key issues. Told you so.