Chilled Fish is heating up

The latest Meat, Fish and Poultry (MFP) figures from Kantar Worldpanel, published today for the 12 weeks ending 21st June 2015 continue to see deflation holding back overall spend in the market.

Chilled Fish remains the fastest growing area in terms of value & volume, driven by shoppers making smaller but more frequent trips. Fish bucks the category trend with prices increasing as more sales come from the premium Added Value category. Fish isn’t a niche market, with over 3 in 5 households shopping each 12 weeks and the average shopper buying five times in that period.

Deflation remains the key trend in fresh meat and poultry, as volumes grow and value declines. Price is down 4% in Fresh Meat and Poultry, but more shoppers buying more often are keeping volumes static year on year. Poultry is driving the deflationary effects with value down significantly, but volumes growing for both Chicken & Turkey. Poultry prices are falling at 7% with the promotional strategies in the category changing to TPRs from Y for £X.

Sliced Cooked Meats are seeing a continued value and volume decline which we expect to see continue over the next few periods as the effect of the Government’s free school meals initiative for 5-7 year olds hits the lunchbox. Since the initiative was launched, kids have eaten 50m fewer lunchboxes in the Autumn and Spring terms alone. This equates to losses of over £100m, hitting yoghurts, snacks, fruit and sandwich products the hardest. 37% of sandwiches feature a sliced cooked meat so the impact is likely to hit the top line sales of the category this year.

The next data release will be in 4 weeks time and with the hot weather we’ve seen in late June, we are expecting to see a peak in BBQ products as people take advantage of the great weather.