Rising beef prices have 'out-stripped' inflation

RISING beef prices have out-striped general inflation, driven by a constrained supply.

- WMN REPORTER

New research from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) and Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) explores the potential impact of further beef price increases on consumer shopping behaviours both in-store and when dining out.

The levy boards worked with Worldpanel by Numerator (formerly Kantar) to look at past consumer behaviour when beef inflation hit its highest point and used these insights to model what could potentially happen if beef inflation was to hit a similar level again.

In retail, beef inflation reached 9.1% in May 2025, with prices averaging £9.39 per kilo for total beef. In the past, retail beef inflation hit a high of 16% in October 2022 and modelling showed that if inflation were to hit 16% again now, it would lead to a potential decline in retail beef volumes of 12,500 tonnes.

In the out-of-home (OOH) market, including all restaurants, cafes, bakeries and fast-food chains, average prices per dish for beef have also been steadily increasing, now averaging over £6 per dish.