Thursday, November 10, 2011

DAD, THEY ALL COME FROM THE SAME ANIMAL: Understanding the periodic availability of McRib as a pork commodities arbitrage:

The theory that the McRib’s elusiveness is a direct result of the vagaries of the cash price for hog meat in the States is simple: in this thinking, the product is only introduced when pork prices are low enough to ensure McDonald’s can turn a profit on the product. The theory is especially convincing given the McRib's status as the only non-breakfast fast food pork item: why wouldn't there be a pork sandwich in every chain, if it were profitable?

Some wonderful, magical animal...
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6 comments:

  1. Russ1:17 PM

    This makes me wonder about the Chipotle carnitas offering.

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  2. Anonymous3:08 PM

    So the lesson is that if we cut agricultural price supports, we could have a possible endless supply of McRibs? Count me in. Screw Iowa.

    --bd

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  3. Genevieve4:16 PM

    Chipotle has different sources of pork than McDonald's (they only use "naturally raised", i.e. vegetarian diet, no antibiotics, etc.), so I don't know if the price fluctuates as much.

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2008/05/03/a-chain-that-pigs-would-die-for.html

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  4. Russ4:22 PM

    Sorry, but there's no way I could not post this here.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0zJSgHDnpw

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  5. Matt5:04 PM

    Jon Huntsman's busy calculating if the pro-McRib vote is worth it.

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  6. Andrew R.10:08 AM

    And that's why Chipotle carnitas burritos cost twice as much as a McRib.

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