A Disappointment May Be Coming For St. Patrick's Day: Corned Beef Prices Are Shooting Up, Some Local Butchers Aren't Even Carrying It
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Are you looking forward to some delicious corned beef and cabbage this St. Patrick's Day – maybe alongside some boiled potatoes, turnips, and parsnips?
As CBS 2's Jermont Terry reported Friday night, you might be in for some bad news on that front. He discovered a few dinner plates might be going without corned beef this year, as the price to stock the meat keeps going up.
In the southwest suburbs sits a staple. For more than 50 years, Jack and Pat's Old Fashioned Butcher Shop, at 10717 Ridgeland Ave. in Chicago Ridge, has served up all kinds of meat.
Yet there is one thing you cannot pick up there these days.
"The corned beef this year is totally ridiculous," said John Powers, the owner of Jack and Pat's.
Powers wishes he could chop the cost of the popular corned beef, because right now, it is just too expensive for the family-owned butcher.
"I'm refusing to do the corned beef," he said. "Last year, it cost me like $470 from one guy, and up to $480. This year, it's cost me $790 to $805."
This week, the butcher shop warned customers of the decision not to carry any corned beef for St. Patricks' Day – and those who depend on the butcher for the holiday dish are scrambling.
"I've been catering it probably for the last 20 years in some big churches like St. Germaine's Church, St. Pat's in Lemont, and St. Mary's in Plainfield; Our Lady of the Ridge," Powers said.
In the South Loop, you can still find a corned beef sandwich at Manny's Cafeteria & Delicatessen, 1141 S. Jefferson St. But the manager said the price of the sandwich is going up every day.
"Unfortunately, when prices of items go up, you're going to have to pay a little bit more," said Manny's co-owner Dan Raskin.
Raskin said the cost for its corned beef is up $1 form last year – and the wholesale price is creeping up weekly.
"When St. Patrick's Day comes, hopefully it won't go up too much more," Raskin said. "But we know we'll have the product. We just don't know the pricing yet."
So what is behind the hike? Some blame the lack of workers in the plants to process the beef.
But with demand for this dish around the corner, extra cash is the only way to enjoy it.
