Deflation holds back value in Primary Fresh Meat

The latest Meat, Fish and Poultry (MFP) figures from Kantar Worldpanel, published today for the 12 weeks ending 24th May 2015 see deflation remain a key trend in fresh meat and poultry, as volumes grow and value declines. Price is down 4% in Fresh Meat and Poultry, but volume is only up slightly as the amount bought each trip remains fairly flat, with the growth driven by more shoppers, shopping more often. Promotional levels have dropped 2% with promotions moving from Y for £X to TPRs.

Pork is seeing the strongest decline of the major sectors with 750,000 less shoppers compared to last year, this loss is driven by volume moving to other proteins and volume being lost from Primary Meat altogether. The volume which has moved to other proteins has been driven much stronger performances from Lamb over Easter and the core ingredient areas of Beef and Chicken.

Burgers & Grills are seeing strong value and volume growth driven by good weather this Spring bringing in more shoppers to the market. Will the upcoming June heatwave provide a further kick to these processed Meat products or will people start moving into the added value raw products as BBQ & Summer Eating lines come in stores.

Chilled Fish remains the fastest growing area in terms of value and volume, driven by shoppers buying more often. Products offering Added Value remain a smaller, but fast growing sector driving category growth, as shoppers opt for easier to cook convenient options. The largest sector in Chilled Fish remains Natural Fish, which was seeing slower performance in previous periods, the latest data has seen a much stronger performance driven by Salmon, Trout and Sea Bream.