The fourth of July holiday is less than a week away and many people may be getting ready to do their shopping.

But, they could be paying more for meat when they reach the checkout counter.


Staff at Urbaniak Bros. have been busy preparing meats to sell to customers ahead of one the most popular summer holidays, the Fourth of July.


Gerry Urbaniak, one of the owners said, "A lot of people buying in bulk, a lot of advance orders and of course, we do have the people that come in last minute and can't decide what they want and end up paying top dollar for a few cuts of meat."


Urbaniak said they, like many other businesses, have seen prices increase from last summer to this summer. "We've see wholesale prices go up by ten or twenty percent on a lot of things, that was of course influenced by the tariffs which started a while back. That has mitigated a little bit", described Urbaniak.


Another reason the prices have increased is due to the cattle. According to Urbaniak, "The herd sizes aren't as big as they used to be, so that is creating a higher price for everything and the demand is much greater."


He also said the maturity of the animals leads to a change in price as well. "The time it takes to raise a cattle to maturity so we can use it is almost two years, for a pig, it's about seven months, and for a chicken, it's only six to seven weeks. So if there is a shortage of beef, it's going to be a year and a half to two years before they can do anything about it, so that's why the prices are high", said Urbaniak.

Urbaniak said a few ways to combat the rising costs of meats in the summer season is by buying in bulk, looking for good deals, and being aware of what things to want to buy.

Urbaniak said buying more now, saves customers in the long run, "Order primal cuts, so an entire strip, an entire short rib, or an entire tenderloin which would save you lots of money and have your butcher trim it and cut it for you."

Urbaniak's Brothers is located on East 24th Street.