Consumers are paying more to grill choice cuts this summer

ALBANY, Ga. -- Summer is America's grilling season, when the smell of prime sirloin broiling over gas flames or charcoal drifts through neighborhoods.

But this summer, consumers will have to pay more for the finer cuts of U.S. beef. Increased demand, helped by a popular high-protein diet, has raised the average retail price for grade A beef cuts, such as steaks and roasts, to $3.61 per pound, 30 cents more than a year ago, according to the University of Georgia.

Beef demand peaks from Memorial Day to Labor Day and the increased demand often means higher prices, but this year they are higher than normal, said Curt Lacy, a university livestock economist.

He attributes some of it to competition with foreign consumers, particularly Asia and Mexico, who have developed a taste for U.S. beef and are willing to pay top dollar to get it.

Gregg Doud, chief economist for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, said U.S. beef production hit a record 578 million pounds during the week of June 6 and second-quarter sales set another record at $9.45 billion.

"The price is higher and the supply is higher, which is a really remarkable situation," Doud said.

A high-protein diet developed by Dr. Robert C. Atkins also has helped. He was often ridiculed by the scientific community, but 15 million copies of his book have been sold since it was published in 1972.

A month after Atkins' death in April, the New England Journal of Medicine reported on two studies that found that people on his high-protein, high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet lose twice as much weight over six months as those on a standard lowfat diet.

Consumers appear to have moved beyond the fat fears of the 1980s and early 1990s and now are focusing on variety and taste, said John McKissick, another University of Georgia livestock economist.

"It appears that a good steak is very tasty to a lot of consumers," he said. "And apparently consumers are still smiling while they're paying" higher prices.