Sales of lamb have risen by almost 20% in the 12-week period to the 12th July to £139.6 million, according to the latest market data from Kantar Worldpanel.
The data also highlighted a spike in sales of both lamb chops and steaks, with value up 25% on the previous year, with the sales of premium cuts accounting for 30% of lamb sold.
The rise in sales is partly driven by new shoppers choosing to cook with lamb at home during lockdown, represented by a 14% increase in the total number of consumers buying fresh lamb over the three-month period.
“The sales figures for the lockdown period are extremely encouraging, and highlight that an increasing number of shoppers are choosing to cook with lamb – many of them new to the category."
The Kantar Worldpanel data also revealed that the number of British shoppers turning to local butchers is increasing, with a 46% year-on-year rise in sales over the 12-week period.
This follows new research carried out by Censuswide on behalf of QMS which highlighted the growth in Scots’ love of local produce during lockdown, with over three quarters (79%) of respondents agreeing that it is important to continue to support local suppliers as restrictions ease.
Lesley Cameron, director of marketing and communications at Quality Meat Scotland, which promotes Scotch Lamb PGI, said: “The sales figures for the lockdown period are extremely encouraging, and highlight that an increasing number of shoppers are choosing to cook with lamb – many of them new to the category.
“Over the past few months we’ve focused our efforts on helping people who might not have much experience cooking lamb by providing easy to follow recipes and tips through partnerships with chefs, TV and radio advertisements and PR activity to reach as big an audience as possible.
“With the closure of the on-trade during lockdown, we amped up activity to help support the livelihoods of the people within the red meat supply chain, so this is a really positive result and one that will be welcome news to the industry as we move forward.”
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.
