Overview
The database contains monthly average retail price data
for selected cuts of red meat and poultry, based on electronic
supermarket scanner data. While not based on a random
sample, the raw data underlying the database are from
supermarkets across the United States that account for
approximately 20 percent of U.S. supermarket sales.
Features
The April 2003 AmberWaves
Data Feature contains a few examples on how meat prices
respond to featuring and season.
Comparing Two Sources of Retail Meat Price Data (November 2009) compares scanner data with retail price data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), describing the differences between these two data sets and evaluating their relative strengths and weaknesses.
Data Files
Colorado State University's Livestock
Market Information Center (LMIC) now houses the retail
scanner prices for meat database, including standard
tables, the searchable database, and documentation.
An overview
and documentation
of the database also are available on the ERS website.
Only random-weight
items that are species-specific and sold in the fresh
meat department of traditional supermarkets are included
in the database. Multi-species items, canned meats, products
containing meat (such as frozen dinners), and deli products
are not included. Although most bacon and sausage are
sold in fixed-weight packages, the database does contain
information on random-weight bacon and sausage.
Release Date
LMIC updates are planned for the 20th of the month, or
the closest business day. The data have a 2-month reporting
lag; that is, prices for May are reported in July.
Background
Legislation
passed in 1999 mandates collection of retail meat prices,
and reflects in part concerns about the effects of industry
concentration on prices and reduced bargaining power of
independent livestock producers. Although the Bureau of Labor Statistics collects retail
prices on some of the same cuts of meat, the ERS database
includes price data on more cuts, information on volumes sold,
and the discount effects of featuring.
ERS continues to use BLS prices to calculate meat
price spreads from farm to wholesale and from farm
to retail. However, users can compute alternative price
spreads using the meat retail scanner price data.
Definitions
Item groupings
by scanner data category gives examples of individual
meat cuts that are in the scanner data categories (in
Excel
format).
Scanner and BLS categories
match BLS meat categories to the corresponding category
in the retail scanner data (in Excel format).
Definitions for the volume
index, random-weight items, and other terms related to
scanner data and meat prices.
Questions and Answers
Answers to questions such
as: Which stores are included in the reporting of supermarket
scanner data? How are data weighted to arrive at a national
average price?
Related Briefing Rooms
Cattle
Hogs
Poultry
Food Marketing
System in the U.S.
Related Resources
BLS Consumer
Price Indexes
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