Tyson Foods to cut prices this week on some beef as grocery prices soar
(CNN) — Tyson Foods will be discounting prices on certain products for the remainder of this week.
The price reductions will vary, but Tyson told CNN some beef items sold to grocery stores, restaurants and other customers could be discounted by 20% to 30% through Saturday.
“We’re doing this because we want to help keep beef on family tables across our nation, especially as our beef plants return from reduced levels of production,” said Gary Mickelson, the company’s senior director of public relations.
Tyson’s announcement comes as American grocery store price tags are soaring. Overall, the price of groceries grew 2.6%, including seasonal adjustments, in April. That was the biggest increase from one month to the next since 1974, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Tyson said the discounts will be on items such as chuck and round roasts, as well as some other ground beef products.
“We believe the move will also benefit other segments of the supply chain, including the cattle producers, since the objective is to help maintain beef consumption as our plants return to more normal levels of production and work through the backlog of available cattle,” Mickelson said.
Prices at the supermarkethave beenrising sharply because coronavirus has disrupted the food supply chain: When restaurants shut down, Americans started cooking at home, and demand for groceries shot up. But food producers and farmers didn’t have the ability to quickly shift their food deliveries to grocery stores.
Thousands of Tyson Foods meat processing plant workers have tested positive for COVID-19, and several have died. The company has had to shut down more than half a dozen plants — including one in Logansport, Indiana, which has reopened — for various periods of time due to outbreaks. More than 1,000 of the employees at the recently reopened Tyson pork processing plant in Waterloo, Iowa, tested positive for the virus.
— David Goldman contributed to this report.