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The Black Garlic Gourmet Smash Burger: Why It Belongs On Your Menu

The Margin Story Is Exceptional Ground beef has climbed to $6.75/lb at retail by January 2026, up 79% from the 2017 baseline — but restaurants buying wholesale are in a meaningfully better position. Toast's proprietary xtraCHEF invoice data puts the national wholesale ground beef average at $3.78–$3.84/lb, and the wholesale range for common ground beef in early 2026 runs $3.44 to $5.00/lb depending on fat ratio and volume purchasing.