Pork sales continued to rise during the 12 weeks ending November 5, data from Kantar Worldpanel shows.
It shows Meat, Fish and Poultry (MFP) volumes static compared to last year, while value grows as inflation hits the MFP categories.
Pork remains the star performer in value and volume terms, with prices rising 2.1% and volumes 3%. Volume sales have only increased by 1% in the overall grocery market, and the primary MFP categories are struggling, with only the processed market growing volume overall. Shoppers are making smaller trips to the category but are buying it more often, perhaps looking to cope with inflation by doing more needs-based shopping trips.
Inflation remains a significant force in the category, driving up the price of red meats and chilled fish. Like-for-like grocery inflation now stands at 3.4% – its highest level since November 2013. This is having a real impact those categories with high like for like inflation. The effect on consumers in the MFP sector is a mixture of trading down and shoppers making more considered choices about the proteins and cuts they buy. The impacts are far-reaching, and we see shoppers moving their spend across proteins as well as into other more processed meals.
Nathan Ward, Kantar’s Business Unit Director for MFP said: “The star performer in primary meat is pork. Having spent much of the last few years commenting on the decline of pork it’s great to see its renaissance! Pork has seen 290,000 more shoppers than last year, but the real driver of the growth is shoppers engaging with the category more often, picking it up on 2.1 million more trips this year. Inflation is hitting the category, with average prices up 7.4%, and inflation is compounded by promotions falling – down 28% on last year.
The AHDB “Pork midweek meal” campaign has helped to raise awareness and put pork front of mind for consumers, whilst the comparatively good value of the protein has helped drive volume. The big winners for pork are mince, marinated lines and frying/grilling which are all seeing value and volume growth.”
