When it came to the performance of supermarket meat products towards the end of 2018, chicken and pork were the winners – seeing substantial volume growth.
In the latest meat, fish and poultry (MFP) market update from Kantar Worldpanel covering the 12 weeks to 30th December, results show a record period for groceries including fresh meat and poultry.
Nathan Ward, business unit director, MFP, explains: “Christmas is always a strong period for the category, with sales above the average quarter.
“Some markets (like turkey) see its largest sales of the year in the two weeks running-up to the festivities. Last year the winners were pork, chicken and chilled fish, which all saw value and volume growth.
“Chicken and pork are the strong performers within the big four proteins, growing volume over 4%, supported by falling base prices and stronger pork promotions.”
Turkey remained static in volume over the 12 weeks, but saw value drop slightly.
Ward continued: “The press has reported on the demise of the Christmas dinner, but the evidence is much less conclusive, with more shoppers buying turkey over the four weeks compared to last year.”
He added that turkey remains the key part of the festive dinner and still dominates sales in the last week before Christmas.
However, the figures were not as promising when it came to beef.
“Beef continues the decline we saw last month, driven by the cuts of joints, stewing and steaks. We’ve seen three million fewer trips for beef, as shoppers move volume into other categories,” said Ward.
“Beef promotions are driving less volume, with temporary price reduction’s (TPRs) seeing 10% less sales: steak and stewing beef are the key categories driving this.
“Lamb’s strong value performance continues with the growth of joints over Christmas offset by the falling volume of chops.”
Talking about the pressure on meat and poultry in the press in regards to plant-based diets, Ward commented: “There is limited evidence of us becoming a nation of vegetarians and vegans, with more shoppers buying into primary meat and poultry compared to last year.”
The next update will be available in four weeks’ time, where Kantar will analyse the first weeks of 2019.
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
