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Bacon-lovers bracing for pork shortage
Posted at: 09/25/2012 4:15 PM
| Updated at: 09/26/2012 12:29 PM
By: Kumi Tucker
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ALBANY - Hot and sweet bratwurst, or bauernwurst and knockwurst -- if you're doing a story on pork and bacon, then Rolf's Pork Store, an Albany fixture on Lexington Avenue, seems like a good place to go.
Glen Eggelhoefer, who owns the business with his brother Edgar, says he just heard about a future pork shortage.
"My distributor told me that today, that they're working on making prices go up next year," Eggelhoefer said. "But it's like anything else in this world. Everybody's trying to make prices go up. Right now, beef is going up."
The USDA says pork supply will drop to the lowest level in more than 25 years. Drought conditions in the United States destroyed corn and soybean crops and that affected feed. Farmers reduced their herds to avoid paying more to feed their pigs. That may mean it will be harder to bring home the bacon next year.
Eggelhoefer, whose father was Rolf, says he will still be able to provide his customers with what they want. He needs a lot of pork. Ninety-eight percent of what they make, from cutlets to sausage, has to do with pigs.
"We make all our products. We make about 70 different products. No preservatives, no nitrates, no fillers. Mostly everything we make is made with pork and beef," said Eggelhoefer.
According to Britain's National Pig Association, a shortage of pork and bacon around the world is now unavoidable.
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