Alberta beef isn't very accessible to most Canadians. Why? Well, because Australian beef is cheaper. Very odd, considering the product is shipped halfway across the world — but how surprising is this really?"Australian Striploin Steak is sailed across the entirety of the Pacific Ocean, then it’s trucked across North America to the Toronto market," user Erik Thorvaldsson says on X. "And it’s $21.78/kg."."Meanwhile Alberta Rib Steak is $55.99/kg. In Alberta.""Something isn’t right.""Canada is utterly, completely broken," Thorvaldsson states.Another user, Editorial Eddie, responded to the post, stating, "I can see a number of possible reasons:""1) The Australian steak is from June 2025 and the Alberta steak is from September 2025. Prices of beef have increased because (they say) of drought and shortages." "2) The Australian steak is a strip loin and the Alberta steak is a rib steak. You are not referring to the same cut of beef.""3) Strip loin is typically less expensive than rib steak, even had they both been processed on the same day. Rib steak is generally more expensive than striploin steak because it contains more marbling, which results in a cut that is richer, tenderer, and more flavourful.".How accurate is this reasoning?Let's find out.According to Statistics Canada, from June to July the price for beef striploin cuts was $26.06/kg in June, and $30.24/kg in July — a 16% price increase.Beef rib cuts actually experienced a decrease from June to July.In June, they were $32.31/kg and July $31.99/kg — a 0.99% decrease. .So, while the prices of the cuts tend to differ by marbling, there's no denying prices have increased significantly in a short time— especially for striploin cuts.This is also backed by the food professor, Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, who operates an agri-food analytics lab at Dalhousie University.Back in June he posted that since the beginning of 2025 beef striploin prices have increased 34.2%, and beef top sirloin by 33.7%.So, why is Australian striploin at $21.78/kg in June still cheaper than the average price of striploin in Canada ($26.06/kg) in the same month?."I'll be honest with you, I just don't know what the answer is to that question, because the discrepancy is quite shocking," Charlebois says. "I mean you can see a difference typically, but we do find Canadian beef to be extremely expensive, even if you compare beef prices with the United States." "The difference is actually quite shocking, whether it's ground beef or any cuts, something is going on with with beef prices in general, and I'm not sure it's retail," Charlebois speculates."I honestly think it's based on demand elasticity." "Prices are set based on what the market can bear.""Costs may have little to do with what's going on, which certainly which raises questions."
