Steak prices to soar as restaurants battle cattle shortage
Restaurant owners and butchers have warned of significant price increases because of a supply crisis amid growing demand for red meat.
Amir Batito, co-founder of Epicurus and The Black Cow restaurants in London, said he is preparing to raise steak prices by as much as 40pc and is charging an extra £2 for a beef burger, up from £13.
He said: 'The price of the steaks increased, the price of labour increased – everything has increased.'
It comes after the average deadweight price of a cow – the price paid once it has been slaughtered – has risen by 15pc since the start of the year to hit record highs, according to the Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).
This has been fuelled by cattle shortages across Europe and the UK, as farmers struggle with higher costs.
Will Beckett, co-founder of the Hawksmoor Steakhouse group, said: 'We're making less beef in this country than ever but demand is higher than ever. Guess what those two things do to pricing? You don't need a PhD in economics to know the answer.'
He said Hawksmoor, which runs 10 restaurants in the UK, had 'gently' increased its prices by around 4pc.
Prices are rising in the supermarkets too. Almost half of fresh beef products sold in the UK's biggest supermarkets have increased in price since the start of 2025, according to trade magazine The Grocer.
Jeremy Godfrey, the managing director of 120-year-old butcher Godfrey's, said he is now paying up to 30pc for some cuts of beef.
He said: 'We can't absorb that. We have to pass that on.'
Max Ward, head butcher at meat specialists Hill & Szrok, in London, added: 'We're constantly fighting a battle. We're trying to see how long we can hold our ground before we are forced to change the prices again.'
The supply crunch has been blamed on economic uncertainty and changes to farming subsidies, with UK beef production expected to fall by 5pc in 2025, according to the AHDB, compared to a 1pc increase in demand.
Concerns have also been raised over the Government's inheritance tax raid.
David Barton, a Cotswolds-based beef farmer and chairman of the National Farmers' Union (NFU) livestock board, said farmers were considering cutting back on investment as a result of the policy change.
He said: 'It's having a massive effect on absolutely everything we do. Beef is a long-term investment, and looking ahead now, it absolutely kills confidence.
'I'm just about to purchase a new bull from my herd. I won't see anything from that bull to sell for three years. In the current economic climate, as everyone's dealing with at the moment, three years is an awfully long time.'
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