Red meat volume sales have dropped, says Kantar figures
Volume of sales in beef, lamb and pork have all seen a decline in the last 12 weeks (ending 28th February), according to the latest Meat, Fish and Poultry (MFP) figures from Kantar Worldpanel.
The figures show that the key proteins in red meat are all seeing depressed volumes, with poultry volume continuing to grow.
Beef saw a 2.4% drop in volume sales and a 1.8% drop in value, lamb experienced a 0.5% drop in volume sales, but a growth (0.8%) in value sales, while pork suffered a 3.1% volume sales drop and a 7.2% value sales drop.
Nathan Ward, business unit director for MFP explains: “All the major red meat proteins slip into decline this period, as beef sees a fourth consecutive period of decline, driven by roasts”.
Smaller trips are driving decline in all of the major red meats, with shopper losses limited to pork. Pork decline is slowing, but is still seeing 220,000 fewer shoppers compared to last year.
Roasting joints are behind the decline across the red meat sector, with whole bird chicken volumes also down.
Poultry had a strong 12-week period with a 3.2% growth in value sales of chicken and 5.3% volume sales growth.
Chicken and turkey volumes are up, with increased trips a driver of growth in both. Primary chicken has attracted 370,000 more shoppers, and breasts are the key cut this year.
And in processed poultry, growth has been driven by more shoppers buying the market more often, with over 320,000 additional shoppers compared to last year.
Bacon and sausages are both experiencing value and volume decline; bacon saw an 8% value sales decline, while sausages had a 6.6% value sales drop.
Chilled fish remains the fastest growing sector, but is also seeing deflation as volumes grow ahead of value.
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