The 'bacon bubble' that didn't burst

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Last October, the Wall Street Journal announced that the "bacon bubble" was set to burst.

Pork industry executives braced themselves for the worst, according to MeatingPlace Magazine, and it didn't come. Well, maybe on the "fine dining" side. High end restaurateurs had been putting bacon into everything, including cocktails.

Otherwise, sales to middle and working class consumers continued upward, rather than dying off as expected after Labour Day.

The Consumer Price Index for bacon was up 32.5 per cent from the previous October.

Wendy's quick-serve restaurant ("fast food" is apparently now a pejorative term) expanded the use of smoked bacon from one to all of its sandwiches sold in the United States.

Meat industry reports indicate that supermarket sales were up nearly three per cent measured in terms of dollars, while the volume of bacon sold was down by 1.7 per cent. (Wal-Mart does not submit sales figures and was not included.) BP