UK PREMIUM MEAT SALES SOAR AS CELEBRATIONS PROVIDE WELCOME LOCKDOWN DISTRACTION

Fresh beef steak sales rose by an impressive 30.7% in the four weeks to February 21, 2021 as consumers celebrated Valentine’s Day in the UK.

Indulgence and treating once again came to the fore during this latest lockdown, with fillet steaks in particular seeing growth of 64.9% in the two weeks up to Valentine’s Day. In addition, takeaways boomed – up 112.3% in the week to February 14 – as some also sought convenience for the special night. 

Meanwhile, this years’ Burns’ night – 25th January – brought good gains for haggis producers, as 200,000 more Scottish households bought a meat haggis in the four weeks to January 31, 2021 compared to the same period last year. 

Andy Crossan, Kantar’s Strategic Insight Director, said: “Celebratory events have been vital since the turn of the year to bring cheer in the home during the long winter lockdown. 

“Premium cuts have been well placed to capitalise on this and lamb in particular – which has strong momentum currently – looks set for a much better easter than in 2020 when celebrations of any kind were incredibly muted.” 

Fresh lamb sales grew at a rate of 30.4% in the latest four weeks with chops growing by 41.8% alone. There was also continued growth for fresh pork (up 26.6%), with leg roasts seeing impressive gains of 41.1%. 

Burgers too, have continued to appeal to locked down shoppers, growing at over 30% for the third successive period – at 31.2% in the most recent four weeks. 

Fresh natural cod meanwhile reached a four-week lockdown shopper peak – with 1.1 millIon UK households buying it in the last four weeks, giving a boost to natural fish sales overall which grew 26.5% in the last four weeks. 

As restrictions start to ease, attention now turns to how Brits will react as we emerge from lockdown.

Marcelina Fedczyszyn, Kantar’s Consumer Insight Director, said: “We’re hoping to take advantage of al fresco dining with friends and family.

“If the spring sunshine arrives that we all crave, so will an influx of barbecues which will continue to drive meat sales.”

Meat sales by type
For the 12 weeks to February 21, meat sales were up 18.2% year-on-year.
Key highlights included:

Fresh beef (volume)                +19.2%
Fresh lamb (volume)              +15.5%
Fresh pork (volume)               +23.5%
Fresh chicken (volume)          +16%
Fresh turkey (volume)            +2.4%
Chilled fish (volume)              +13.4%

Fresh beef (value)                   +19.3%
Fresh lamb (value)                  +22.2%
Fresh pork (value)                  +25.4%
Fresh chicken (value)             +17.1%
Fresh turkey (value)                +4.9 %
Chilled fish (value)                 +17.8%

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