LONDON (Realist English). Wesley Batista, one of the billionaire brothers behind Brazilian meat giant JBS, has warned that the United States is struggling to produce enough beef to meet surging demand, forcing the country to rely increasingly on imports despite higher tariffs.
“The US is facing the highest beef price in history and needs to import more because domestic production can’t support the demand,” Batista said at a consumer conference hosted by Rothschild in London.
The average retail price of ground beef reached a record $6.32 per pound in August — up 13% from a year earlier — according to U.S. Labor Department data. Despite President Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariff hikes in April, U.S. beef imports rose 30% in the first half of the year, including a 91% jump in shipments from Brazil before new tariffs of 50% took effect in August.
Batista attributed part of the demand boom to the growing popularity of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro, which require users to consume more protein to preserve muscle mass. “No one knows exactly what the impact is,” he said, “but something is happening — protein has become a trend.”
A survey by the International Food Information Council found that 71% of Americans now aim to eat more protein, up from 59% in 2022.
JBS, the world’s largest meat company and the leading beef producer in the U.S. with nine plants nationwide, generates roughly half of its $77bn in annual revenue from the American market. Batista said tariffs were not significantly affecting JBS because most of its U.S. beef is produced domestically. “Prices are rising, but demand remains strong, especially in the U.S.,” he said.
Analysts say that reduced cattle numbers are the main driver of higher prices. “The U.S. herd is the smallest since the 1950s,” said Larissa Alvarez of StoneX, citing droughts that have scorched pastures across the west and south, forcing ranchers to sell off cattle rather than breed them.
JBS, controlled by brothers Wesley and Joesley Batista, has evolved from a small Brazilian slaughterhouse into a global food powerhouse and now ranks as the second-largest poultry and pork producer in the U.S. The group recently moved its primary stock listing from São Paulo to New York, despite criticism from environmental groups over its alleged role in Amazon deforestation.
Batista said the company is working to make Brazil’s cattle industry more efficient and environmentally sustainable. “We’re helping farmers produce more with the same land and resources,” he said, adding that U.S. producers can yield the same beef output with roughly half the herd size, thanks to better breeding and nutrition.
