Burger and sausage sales soar after spring sunshine

Traditional barbecue meat sales have surged during lockdown as Brits take advantage of the persistent dry weather and eat more for enjoyment purposes.

Burgers (up 51.6%) and sausages (up 47.4%) have registered huge growth rates in the four weeks to 17 May, with combined sales up by £40m. A massive four weeks for processed meats was helped immensely by the buoyancy of the bacon sector (41.6%), which is benefiting from consumers turning to more exciting options for breakfast and lunch.

This continued strong run for processed meats sits alongside the impressive growth of sales in butchers (300,00 additional shoppers) and online retailers – with the latter attracting 5 million meat, fish and poultry shoppers in the latest four weeks reflecting the fact many are buying locally or seeking online deliveries.

Andy Crossan, strategic insight director, Kantar, said: “We’d typically treat ourselves more when eating away from the home, therefore it comes as no surprise that a large amount of consumers are treating themselves with barbecues and processed meats during these tough times.”

17 million more barbecues were held in the four weeks to 19 April compared with the same time period last year - generating an extra £70m of spend in the process. Andy continued: “Given this happened even before the bumper period of sunshine in early May, we can expect to see even more al fresco dining, with gatherings starting to return as lockdown travel measures are eased, and outside space remains vital during social distancing.”

As well as dining outside, our lockdown behaviours continue to evolve – with hot meals growing at almost double the speed of cold meals at lunch time. Andy continued: “Steak dinner occasions have nearly doubled during lockdown, so the signs are there that consumers are bringing their out-of-home consumption behaviour into the home – which is much needed for the industry while the profitable food service sector is still largely out of commission.”

Four fifths of in-home food servings are being consumed for enjoyment purposes – showing significant growth importance compared with the same period in 2019. Familiar favourites are the key to sustaining modest growth within fish too, as cod (growing 15.3%) and haddock (up 14.5%) have both seen strong growth in the last four weeks. Promotions, meanwhile, continue to play a diminished role, with only 25.3% of volume sold on deal for meat, fish and poultry in the four weeks to 17 May - compared to 32.3% in the same period last year.

Andy continued: “How consumers continue to respond during this difficult economic time will be vital to understand. The last recession showed that health tends to play less of a role in consumers’ choices when budgets are tighter, and we’re certainly seeing evidence of that so far.”

Join the Kantar MFP team on Tuesday 16 June at 2pm for our webinar examining our meat, fish and poultry shopping and consumption – register for your place now.