According to the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers’ (AIMS) Retailer Meat and Poultry Inflation Tracker Report for July 2025, the overall prices for fresh beef, lamb, pork and chicken rose by 0.35% from June.
Beef rose by 1.32% driven in the main by increases in mince with lean up 3.78% to finish at an average of £10.15 kg. Standard mince was up 4.86% to finish the month at an average of £6.69 kg.
AIMS said that as consumers switch from lean to standard in the minced beef category, consumers will see the average price per kg for the latter rise in the coming month.
Over the last month, fresh chicken rose by 1.44%, driven by chicken thigh fillets up 5.02%, which AIMS suggested could result in some switching away from breast portions, though these also rose by 1.29% during the month.
Year-on-year figures
Overall meat figures for the last 12 months showed a 13.11% price rise over July 2024, and as with the monthly figures this was driven by beef (up 32.56%) and chicken (up 10.29%).
Beef steaks were up an average of 42.5%, while mince was up 37.7% and roasting joints up 35.33% on the year.
On the year, chicken breast portions were up 15.31%, while boneless chicken thighs saw a 16.14% increase.
AIMS found that lamb prices, with the exception of shanks, were all higher on 12 months ago. Bone-in shoulder was up 12.92%, and whole legs were up 11.42%, reportedly showing that demand for roasting joints continued, as consumers may look to cook a whole joint and stretch it across meal occasions.
It turned to pork shoulder to highlight that its 10.22% increase in price could be due to the popularity and economy of pulled pork, coupled with a shelf price of less than an average £5 kg.
Tony Goodger, head of communications at AIMS, commented: “My reading of the market is that there is still some distance to run before we see year on year meat and poultry price increases settle.
“Our price monitoring is all based on British product and whilst we have seen importers move to grab a slice of the consumer’s shopping baskets as a means of driving up their margins, it does appear that at present in the main retailers and shoppers are sticking with British red meat and chicken.”
