Tyson to cut prices on some beef products by 30% this week

Tyson Foods Inc.is trying to give shoppers a little break on their bill as grocery prices surge across the country.

The Arkansas-based company, which processes a fifth of the nation's beef, announced Wednesday it will be cutting prices of some beef products by up to 30% through the end of this week on items it sells to grocery stores and restaurants.

The move comes as grocery costs made their highest one-month jump in 46 years from March to April this year. The Department of Labor reported Tuesday that the average grocery bill for U.S. consumers went up 2.6% in April, the largest increase since February 1974, headlined by a 4.3% jump in the price of the meat, poultry, fish and eggs category.

"We're doing this because we want to help keep beef on family tables," Tyson CEO Noel White told The Wall Street Journal.

RELATED: Take a look at some major retailers that have been impacted by the virus pandemic:

Food

The coronavirus has caused major disruptions throughout the meat industry due to several major outbreaks at facilities around the country. Dozens of the nation's largest meat processing plants have either slowed operations, reducing production, or closed entirely to help prevent the spread of the deadly virus.

More than 700 employees at one Tyson factory in Iowa tested positive for the coronavirus earlier this month, and the company temporarily closed a large beef plant in Nebraska at the end of April due to an outbreak.

Download the TODAY app for the latest coverage on the coronavirus outbreak.

Last month, Tyson also took out a full-page ad in the Sunday edition of The New York Times (which also ran in the Washington Post, in which the chairman of the board of Tyson Foods wrote that "the food supply chain is breaking."

Last week's nationwide production of beef, pork and other red meat was 28% lower than the same time last year, according to the USDA.