Decline in bacon sales continues

GB pigmeat retail sales over the summer, as the variable weather hampered sales of some cuts. 

Overall, pigmeat sales declined by almost 4% year-on-year in volume and over 3% in spend in the 12 weeks ending August 11, data from Kantar shows.

This was despite marginal increase in volumes of fresh and frozen primary pork, which accounts for a fifth of total pigmeat sales. Within this category, shoppers switched from more expensive cuts, such as marinades and pork ribs, towards cheaper roasting joints and mince.

But bacon, a larger category, continued its downward trend, recording a 6.8% decline in volume. Cooked sliced meats (including ham) and sausages also recorded sales decline as the summer weather came nowhere near to matching last year’s heatwave, 

Fresh and frozen poultry recorded declines of 2% in volume and spend, while beef sales were static in and lamb sales showed strong growth, benefiting from promotion.

Nathan Ward, Kantar's business unit director, Meat, Fish, Protein, said: “The summer of extremes has driven some big changes in behaviour with shoppers pulling back on traditional summer categories like Burgers, Sausages and Sliced Cooked Meats.

"There has been a shift towards buying more primary products, especially red meat which has struggled in previous years. 

"The real winners in MFP this summer are the primary proteins, with all categories seeing volumes grow except duck and more speciality poultry. Ward continues: “Beef and Lamb are seeing a much stronger performance in the short term. Lamb has seen the strongest performance overall, driven by almost 300,000 more shoppers and 1.3m more trips.

"Pork and Chicken are growing behind the market in value and volume, but are still seeing growth over the summer as shoppers buy more pork roasting joints, pork mince and chicken Legs/Wings.”