South San Francisco, CA September 10, 2021
San Mateo County Board of Supervisors President David J. Canepa will hold a press conference to urge the Biden Administration to crack down on “illegal price fixing” from the nation’s four largest meatpackers and to provide stimulus money to smaller meat producers. The press conference is 11 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 11, Save More Meats, 74 W. Manor Drive, Pacifica.
“There’s a monopoly on meat in this country and its causing extreme sticker shock,” Canepa said. “Many of us have foregone eating beef during the pandemic only to find as we emerge out of it that prices are simply out of reach. There’s a monopoly on beef in the United States who are profiteering from the pandemic and I applaud the Biden Administration for acknowledging this. So, I am urging him to level the playing field by providing stimulus to smaller meat producers and to address what his administration calls ‘illegal price fixing’ by the nation’s four largest meatpackers. I also encourage consumers to check out local butcher shops which may have lower prices because many sell more locally-sourced meat.”
The four largest meat suppliers in the United States are: Cargill, a global commodity trader based in Minnesota; Tyson Foods Inc, the biggest U.S. meat company by sales; Brazil-based JBS SA, the world’s biggest meatpacker; and National Beef Packing Co, under the control of Brazilian beef producer Marfrig Global Foods SA, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The Biden Administration blogged Wednesday that it plans to grant $1.4 billion in COVID-19 pandemic stimulus money to small meat producers.
Save More Meats is a family-owned business in Pacifica since 1955 currently owned by brothers Matthew and Kevin Lee. The Lees purchase beef from California-based Harris Ranch.