Things about bacon you maybe didn't know

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Wholesale prices on pork bellies went through the roof in early August and the business pages of serious newspapers started paying attention.

According to Bloomberg News, Americans consume more than 1.7 billion pounds annually at restaurants. They rank in 10th place in the world and eat an average of 60 pounds annually. The world's largest consumers of bacon are in Hong Kong, where each person is on track to eat 151 pounds this year. North American prices usually climb in August, when homegrown tomatoes ripen. According to the experts Bloomberg quotes, the price of bacon is no object.

U.S. government figures indicate that wholesale pork bellies prices are up 72 per cent to US$1.44 a pound, the highest price since 1988. Retail bacon prices averaged more than $4 a pound in June, the highest since at least 1980.

Bacon, tomato and lettuce sandwiches are taking off in Canada as well. The NPD Group Inc., a market research firm, told The Toronto Star that 50 per cent more of them are expected to be eaten this year than in 2005. About 17 per cent of all food service burgers sold are bacon cheeseburgers. That's 118 million burgers with bacon on top. BP