Narrator: This bony cut of beef has become a hot commodity. It's called oxtail, and it goes for around $14 a pound, about the same price as a pound of sirloin steak, but with a lot less meat.

Judith: I'm selling out of oxtail, like, every week. I can't keep up. Narrator: But that wasn't always the case. For a long time, oxtail was considered a throwaway cut of beef in the United States.

As recently as two decades ago, it only cost a few dollars per pound. Judith: Back then, in, what, the early 2000s, nobody wanted it. Narrator: So, what changed? The reputation of oxtail is as high as it's ever been.

Narrator: Now, prices have skyrocketed for everyone. And some who've been eating oxtail all along aren't happy about the hike. Oxtail prices are just getting out of hand, fam! We're not about it!

Narrator: An online movement has started to "make oxtail cheap again." Business Insider even found itself in the middle of the viral controversy. So, why is oxtail suddenly so expensive? And what does the increasing price mean for people who've been eating oxtail for generations?

Finding oxtail on menus in the United States was rare just a couple of decades ago. Pat LaFrieda's family's butcher shop in New Jersey has been selling the cut since it opened in 1922. He says that in the past,

The cut of beef never got much attention from restaurants. Most of his oxtail sales came from Latin American, Asian, and Caribbean communities, who have cooked with it for generations. There are many cultures that focus on the oxtail

because at one time it was an economy cut. Narrator: One big reason oxtail was considered a throwaway is that it has a lot less meat than other cuts of beef. That's because it's mostly bone and fat,

with only about 40% usable meat. To get the same amount of meat as 1 pound of another cut of beef, like sirloin steak, you'd need 2 ½ pounds of oxtail. Pat: So, when you really calculate how much meat you have

for the poundage of product, it's not much. Narrator: Still, those eating oxtail back then knew it wasn't like any other cut of beef. The flavor is so distinctive. You can close your eyes, probably put on a blindfold,

you will know that it's oxtail. Narrator: Oxtail is high in collagen and is more gelatinous than most other cuts of beef. The collagen breaks down when it's cooked and gives the meat a buttery, melt-in-your-mouth texture.

I love oxtails, if they're cooked correctly. Not everybody can cook oxtails. And if you season it right, oh, my God, it'll linger in your mouth for days. It really is the pearl of the animal.

But because it's so succulent and because it's so spoon-tender once cooked, there's no mistaking it for any other cut in the animal. Narrator: And while oxtail wasn't widely in demand

in the US, the story was much different in Jamaica, where food lovers have long known the value of this bony beef. Narrator: Oshea Williams learned how to cook traditional Jamaican oxtail stew when he was a child.

Narrator: Today, it's one of the bestselling dishes at his seaside restaurant, Oshea's 876 Kitchen, in Port Antonio, Jamaica. The dish dates back to the island's colonial era, when enslaved Africans were given unwanted animal parts

like oxtail to eat. Using their ancestral cooking techniques and local spices, they transformed it into a flavorful stew that's now a staple of Jamaican cuisine. The oxtail is typically chopped into 1-inch pieces and seasoned with fresh spices.

Narrator: The meat is then slow-cooked over an open fire for hours until it falls off the bone. Narrator: While oxtail was always somewhat of a luxury in Jamaica, the prices Oshea is seeing today are way higher than before.

That's because there's more demand in the US. 41% of the meat imported to Jamaica comes from the US, including oxtail. So, if prices are up in the US, they're up in Jamaica, too. Narrator: Oxtail's popularity in the US

Has been on the rise since the mid-2010s, but it really spiked during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. As supply chain issues drove up beef prices in America, consumers searching for cheaper meat turned to cuts like oxtail.

But oxtail was never meant to have such high demand. Oxtail only makes up 4 to 6 pounds of a cow, compared to the hundreds of pounds of other beef cuts. This limited supply, combined with growing demand,

has more than doubled US oxtail prices over the past decade, from $6 in 2015 to $14 in 2024. Today, Pat says oxtail is the most expensive he's ever seen it. The demand for it is as high as it's ever been.

Narrator: To understand just how much the price has jumped, we visited Chef Judith Able at Swirl Wine Bistro in South Florida. She makes an oxtail ravioli that costs more than double what it used to. When we first opened Swirl,

on the menu, it was under $20 for the dish. Narrator: Today, it costs $48. Oxtail was one of Judith's favorite dishes growing up as a child in Jamaica. I can remember, maybe around 10,

having oxtail. It was so good! Oh, my goodness! It's always been an upscale family meal. For better holidays, you'll get some oxtail. People are coming over to your house on a Sunday, you know you'll cook oxtail.

Narrator: It wasn't until she moved to the US in 1986 that she realized just how inexpensive the cut of meat was outside of the island. It was, like, a dollar and change. We were cooking oxtail at my sister's house because,

oh, my goodness, oxtail, it's so cheap here. Narrator: But as the price of oxtail rises, she can barely make a profit from it. Judith: There was a point where we were like,

"Yeah, we're not putting it on the menu." So we had stopped serving it for a while. Right now, we have to cap it, because how much can you sell ravioli for? But for now, I'm just making it out of love.

Narrator: With a $48 oxtail ravioli dish, it's safe to say consumers are feeling the impact. Oxtail prices are just getting out of hand, fam! Narrator: That's Jamaican comedian Marlon Palmer.

In 2016, he sparked an online movement bringing awareness to rising oxtail prices with the hashtag #MakeOxtailCheapAgain. It all started when he saw the price of an oxtail entrée at his local Jamaican restaurant

in Toronto start to rise. I went to Albert's, and I looked at the price, and I was like, "This is not the normal price." And so I made an Instagram story or a Snapchat or something, and I was like, "Can you look at this?"

$20 for a large oxtail and a tea? What is that? At the time, Trump was running on his "Make America Great Again" campaign. So I was like, 'Make oxtail cheap again!' This is what we need to be campaigning for.

Narrator: The hashtag quickly garnered thousands of mentions all over social media, with longtime oxtail lovers sharing their experiences. Through doing it, I realized how many people felt the same way but just weren't saying anything.

It's that sense of community. We're all in on the joke. We all know what's at stake here. And we're treating it like this dire situation, and it's not dire, but to our community, it's dire.

Narrator: Business Insider found itself in the middle of the controversy. In 2023, our food page reposted a video about oxtail on Twitter, garnering over 36 million views and thousands of reposts. In the replies, oxtail lovers like Marlon

tried their best to steer people away from their favorite food, jokingly claiming that consuming it could cause severe ailments and even death. I kept putting the vomit emoji and telling people, "Yucky."

Anytime someone would bring it up, I was like, "You eat that?" And just making it seem grotesque, because at a certain point, propaganda is the only thing that's going to save us. We gotta start lying to these people. I'm pretty sure that worked on a couple hundred people.

Any little bit makes a difference, man. Any little bit. Narrator: But behind the jokes, there's still some real concern among OG oxtail fans. I think there's anger that it got out. Because we found a way to make

what other people think was trash, treasure. I think that's what really connects us to it. Like, we had it in-house for so long. Nobody knew how great this was. And then the internet just propelled it to new heights.

Narrator: But the debate isn't only about price. There's also the question of the right way to make oxtail. Feels like a trend. Because you see it in, like, oxtail tacos, oxtail syrup, oxtail cereal,

and they have now remixed it 500,000 times into different concoctions that I do not approve of. It's a mess now. It's gone overboard. And that's part of why I think the price has gone up as well.

Narrator: This way of thinking puts Judith and her oxtail ravioli in an awkward position. Because I'm a Jamaican chef, they have this expectation. "Oh, we're going to a restaurant that has a Jamaican chef.

Oh, they have oxtail on the menu." They're expecting it to be on the bone, the traditional way. I worked in England, Wales, Switzerland. All of these experiences influence how I cook. How could I come, you know,

Just cook oxtail the same old way? Of course I'm going to find another way to cook it. Narrator: To make the dish, she starts by trimming excess fat from the oxtail and browning it on all sides.

The key to making oxtail tender is cooking it slowly at a low temperature in a flavorful stock. Once it's done, the meat is fall-off-the-bone tender. Due to oxtail's long cooking time, making a batch of ravioli takes Judith two days.

But Judith says she can't achieve the same flavor with any other cut of beef. It had to be the oxtail. Narrator: Judith cooks the oxtail again for another four hours in more wine and beef stock.

Judith: Well, that's going to cook down. And the reduction of this oxtail is what we're going to use as the filling for the ravioli. Narrator: When Judith first considered adding oxtail

to the menu at her restaurant, ravioli wasn't her first choice. Her goal was to pay homage to her Jamaican heritage while also distinguishing herself as a chef. I mean, there's a lot of Jamaican restaurants

that you can go and get traditional Jamaican food. We want to set ourselves apart. Narrator: It took years of trial and error to come up with this dish. Today, the oxtail ravioli is a customer favorite at Swirl.

We had to put it on the door, "Home of the Oxtail Ravioli." I'm selling out of oxtail, like, every week. I can't keep up. Narrator: While she is concerned about the price hikes,

she says it shouldn't stop her or other chefs from creating innovative oxtail dishes. There will always be a chef who's going to try to take it to the next level. I've seen chefs smoke it and then braise it.

I've seen chefs who slow-smoke it for days, so it's falling off the bone. Have at it. You know, be creative. Narrator: Today, Pat LaFrieda delivers oxtail to all kinds of chefs and restaurants,

including high-end ones. Despite many people's fears, Pat insists there's still plenty of oxtail to go around. Unless there's some evolutionary issue with cattle, it's never going to disappear. Judith: As long as the demand for oxtail is there,

there are people who are going to buy it, and people are buying at a higher price anyway, you know? They may not buy as much, but they're still buying it because it's, like, it's in our system at this point.

Why Oxtail Is More Expensive Than Ever | So Expensive | Business Insider

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Business Insider

Oxtail's surprising popularity and price increase.

Oxtail, a bony cut of beef, costs around $14 per pound, comparable to sirloin steak but with less meat.

Oxtail was previously considered a throwaway cut in the US, costing a few dollars per pound in the early 2000s.

The recent price surge has angered some long-time consumers.

An online movement, "Make Oxtail Cheap Again," protests the price hike.

The video explores the reasons behind the price increase and its impact on consumers.

Oxtail's history and culinary traditions.

Oxtail was rarely found on US menus until recently, primarily consumed by Latin American, Asian, and Caribbean communities.

Oxtail has less meat (around 40%) than other cuts, mostly bone and fat.

Oxtail's distinctive flavor and gelatinous texture, due to high collagen content, make it unique.

Oxtail has been valued in Jamaica for generations, where it's a staple of Jamaican cuisine.

In Jamaica, oxtail stew's origins trace back to the colonial era, when enslaved Africans transformed it into a flavorful dish.

Factors contributing to the price increase.

Oxtail's popularity surged during and after the COVID-19 pandemic due to supply chain issues and higher beef prices.

Limited supply (4-6 pounds per cow) combined with increased demand has more than doubled US prices in the last decade.

A chef's oxtail ravioli dish now costs $48, more than double its initial price.

The chef recalls oxtail being very inexpensive in the US when she moved there in 1986.

Jamaican comedian Marlon Palmer started the #MakeOxtailCheapAgain movement in 2016 due to rising prices.

The hashtag gained traction, uniting oxtail lovers and highlighting the shared concern.

Business Insider's coverage of oxtail went viral, further fueling the conversation.

There's concern about oxtail's newfound popularity and the potential loss of its cultural significance.

The debate also includes concerns about innovative, non-traditional oxtail dishes.

Chef Judith balances tradition with innovation in her oxtail ravioli, acknowledging both expectations and her own culinary journey.

The preparation of her oxtail ravioli is detailed, emphasizing slow cooking for tenderness.

The dish represents a balance between honoring Jamaican heritage and showcasing culinary creativity.

Despite the price increase, the chef believes innovation with oxtail should continue.

A butcher assures that oxtail supply is unlikely to disappear.

The chef believes that as long as demand remains, people will continue to purchase oxtail, even at higher prices.

Why Oxtail Is More Expensive Than Ever | So Expensive | Business Insider

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