Beef Prices Are at Record Highs—Should It Stay on Your Event Menu?
Why does the beef entrée on your banquet menu cost so much more than it did two years ago—and what should you expect next when deciding whether beef belongs on your event menu?
Record-high cattle prices, the smallest U.S. beef herd in decades, and shifting global trade flows have pushed beef prices to historic levels. Consumers feel it at the grocery store in the sticker price on burgers and steaks, but for hotels, caterers, convention centers, and event planners buying beef by the case, the stakes are even higher. Every carving station, plated filet, and burger buffet now carries a price tag shaped by forces that start on a cattle ranch and travel through feedlots, packers, and distributors before landing on your BEO.
On this episode of Eating at a Meeting LIVE, I’m joined by Dr. Derrell Peel, Charles Breedlove Professor of Agribusiness at Oklahoma State University and Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist since 1989. One of the country’s most trusted voices on cattle markets, beef demand, and meat supply chains, Derrell has spent more than three decades helping producers and buyers make sense of the economics behind every pound of beef—and he has a gift for making complex market dynamics clear to non‑economists.
Together, we’re tracing the path from farm to function: how tight cattle supplies and strong demand have driven prices to current levels, how North American and global trade flows shape what U.S. buyers pay, and how those upstream dynamics translate into the B2B prices hotels, caterers, and studios see on invoices every week.
You’ll learn:
▶ Why cattle supplies are historically tight, and why herd rebuilding—and price relief—will take years, not months
▶ How beef moves from cow‑calf producer to packer to distributor to your banquet menu, and where the key price “steps” happen
▶ Why grocery‑store beef prices and B2B foodservice prices don’t move in lockstep
▶ Which cuts are under the most pressure, and how that should inform menu design, portion strategy, protein mix, and whether beef stays on the menu at all
▶ What planners and F&B buyers can realistically expect for beef pricing over the next few years—and how to plan, negotiate, and communicate with clients accordingly
Whether you’re a planner justifying a per‑plate increase to a client, a hotel F&B director building next year’s banquet menus, or a caterer deciding whether beef stays on the buffet, this conversation gives you the market literacy to make smarter decisions—because every meal matters, and every menu line item has a story that starts long before it reaches the kitchen.
Join us live and bring your questions about beef prices, menu strategy, and managing F&B budgets in a volatile protein market.
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