As a butcher, you’re an expert in sourcing the highest quality protein, making expert cuts, and guiding your customers toward the perfect steak or rack of ribs.
But for butcher shop success, you also need to be an expert in turning a profit.
In this blog, we’ll explore everything you need to know about how to price meat in your butcher shop, including the factors that affect meat prices, industry averages, and four tips for maximizing profits.
Meat Pricing Basics
When it comes to pricing, butcher shops have a clear advantage over big-box supermarkets: Customers expect a premium product, so they’re willing to pay a premium price.
Since you offer high-quality, cut-to-order meats, you’re free from the race to the bottom to offer the lowest prices.
That’s why butcher shops enjoy healthy profit margins ranging from 35% to 45%.
However, it’s important to note that butcher shop pricing and profits aren’t always cut and dry. Your business’ location, market conditions, and product selection play a significant role in determining how much customers are willing to pay.
If you source grass-fed sirloin from a local farm and operate in a high-cost-of-living area, customers will be willing to pay higher prices. If you’re in a rural area and offer beef that’s one step above the supermarket standard, your price options will be on the lower end.
Average Meat Pricing for Butcher Shops
Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s take a closer look at the average prices for common butcher shop products.
- Ground beef: $7 to $15/pound
- Premium steaks: $30 to $70/pound
- Chicken breasts: $8 to $17/pound
- Bone-in chicken: $6 to $12/pound
- Lamb: $15 to $30/pound
- Pork sausage: $8 to $12/pound
- Pork chops: $6 to $15/pound
These are wide ranges — which is why it’s critical to create a butcher shop pricing strategy that appeals to your customers and aligns with your goals.
How To Price Meat in Your Butcher Shop: 4 Best Practices
Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s look at four essential steps for how to price meat in your butcher shop.
1. Calculate Your Costs and Markup
Instead of basing your prices on a gut feeling, you need a data-driven approach.
The first step in crafting a profitable butcher shop pricing strategy is to calculate your costs. How much does securing a pound of beef from your supplier cost? Remember to include delivery costs.
You should also factor in operational expenses, including how much it costs to rent your space, staff the front counter, and keep the refrigerators running.
Once you know how much it costs to stock one pound of meat, you can mark it up to turn a profit. We recommend deciding on a unique markup for each of your products instead of charging a blanket increase across your entire inventory.
Pro tip: A butcher shop point of sale (POS) system will do these calculations for you, making it easy to track costs, check your profit margin by item, and adjust prices.
2. Check Out the Competition and Consider Your Customers
So, what’s a reasonable markup for one pound of ground sausage? Checking out your competitors’ pricing can give you a solid starting point.
Visiting other specialty grocery stores and butcher shops can help you understand what customers want and how much they pay for different types of meat in your area.
However, don’t just copy your competitors’ pricing strategy. Your goal should be to stand out and appeal to customers in a new way.
For example, if other local butcher shops specialize in organic, grass-fed meats and charge sky-high prices, you can set your business apart by offering high-quality meats and reasonable prices.
3. Adopt a Weight-Based Approach
A weight-based approach is foundational to butcher shop pricing and inventory management.
If you charge by the steak and not by the pound, you risk disappointing customers with smaller cuts or losing money on larger ones. Instead, set weight-based prices to guarantee a consistent experience and turn every last ounce of meat into profit.
All you need is a reliable scale with an integrated label printer and a POS system designed for meat sales.
These tools automatically calculate the total price of a customer’s order based on the meat’s weight and price per pound. From there, you can print a custom label that includes the pricing information, package and expiration dates, and a barcode label to simplify the checkout process.
4. Stay Flexible and Adaptable
Setting butcher shop prices isn’t a one-and-done project. You may need to adjust your pricing strategy to account for supply chain fluctuations and your customers’ wants and needs.
Set aside time to regularly explore your POS system’s sales and analytics reporting suite to check on your profit margins, analyze sales trends, and adjust your prices as needed.
Just make sure to clearly communicate with customers when prices change to prevent confusion and build trust.
Create a Winning Butcher Shop Pricing Strategy With Markt POS
Ready to turn your passion for protein into a profitable small business? We can help.
Markt POS is an all-in-one POS solution designed for butcher shops just like yours. With our software, you can set and adjust prices, manage inventory by weight, and monitor your sales trends, profit margins, and more. Plus, we offer sales-boosting features like flexible promotions and a built-in customer loyalty program to keep customers happy and sales high.
Ready to start your Markt POS journey? Schedule your live demo today!
