Bacon lovers are getting socked in the piggy bank.
City butchers and restaurateurs are beginning to squeal for mercy after the price of bacon rose to the highest it’s been in nearly 30 years — thanks to high demand and a shortage of healthy pigs.
“We’ve had to raise the prices in small increments in the last month,” said Vincent Santiago, an employee at Staubitz meat market in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn.
The pork surge began last year when a virus swept through US farms in about 30 states and killed millions of pigs.
Bacon prices have shot up around 10 percent this year alone and reached an all-time high of $6.11 per pound, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Santiago said a half-pound slab of bacon now costs about $3.99, as opposed to last month when they were about a dollar cheaper.
“We don’t like to raise prices, but this is what we do for a living,” he added. “People are still buying it.”
Thomas Perone, owner of Pig Guy NYC, said he’s not happy about the skyrocketing price of pig products, but is absorbing the costs of the increase for now.
“The price of pork is through the roof right now,” he said. “It’s ridiculous.”
Peter Sherman, owner of BarBacon in Hell’s Kitchen, said the price hikes won’t deter bacon lovers from purchasing and consuming it.
“You’re talking about a product that every American has a craving for,” he said.