For the fresh meat industry, including the fresh pork category, 2012 has been a challenging year. A tough economy, severe drought and input costs that have spiraled upward for pork producers dominated the challenges in 2012, and 2013 is expected to provide no relief for pork producers.
According to FreshLook Marketing, for the 52 weeks ending July 22, 2012, fresh pork sales decreased 0.3 percent in dollar sales and 5.4 percent in volume compared to the same period a year ago. The average price of pork increased 5.4 percent during this time period.