Rising Lamb Prices Have Some Re-Thinking Holiday Meal Plans
By Hadas Kuznits
PHILADELPHIA (CBS)-The price of lamb has gone up in this area, so what does that mean for your holiday meal this weekend?
Linda Smith, general manager of Esposito Meats in the Italian Market says there's been a noticeable jump in the price of lamb this year.
"If you were to average it out and you wanted to get a leg of lamb, it's probably somewhere around $6 a pound, whereas last year it probably would have been about $4.50 a pound."
Why is it more expensive this year?
"The amount of product they're putting out to pasture, the amount of demand."
And the holidays make people notice the difference.
"For example, last year if you needed a Seder bone, you would've paid probably half of what you would pay this year."
Reporter: "Why such a jump in price?"
Smith: "Because last year they had double the amount of lambs on the market. People were buying more lamb, the price was better, plus the economy was a lot better. This year, there are less lambs to go around, but more demand on the bone and of course the price gets driven up by demand."
And Smith says the cost will most likely impact what some people will be eating for the holidays this weekend.
"People who buy lamb consistently are still buying it, but it's the occasional buyer that bought it as a celebratory meal, like Thanksgiving or Christmas or Passover or Easter; they're the ones who are shying away from it."
