Kantar Worldpanel has released the latest Meat, Fish and Poultry (MFP) figures for the 12 weeks ending 27th March 2016, which reveal Easter to have provided a major boost for meat and poultry in particular.
The findings show that an early Easter this year has given meat and poultry a sales boost of £16m.
Easter is a big draw for shoppers anyway, but an additional quarter of a million people were found to be buying meat and poultry this year.
Nathan Ward, business unit director for MFP, explained: “In meat and poultry the real winners from the early Easter were lamb, turkey and the more niche categories. All of these proteins saw strong shopper growth through the Easter phasing.
“A big focus for the retailers was on the Easter meal, with the key roasting lines an area of focus. The winners in this battle were legs of lamb, turkey and duck crowns and whole birds.”
Kantar Worldpanel’s report indicates that AB shoppers (middle/upper class shoppers) and under 34s are the key groups behind the Easter performance, but are engaging with the market differently.
ABs are shown to be buying into fewer promotions and buying more roasts, whilst the under 34s are spending more on promotions, particularly straight price cuts which retailers favoured this year.
The MFP figures come shortly after another recent report from Kantar Worldpanel indicating the latest in grocery share figures for the same period.
The findings show the fastest growth the grocery sector has seen all year; supermarket sales have grown by 1.1% compared with the same period last year.
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.
