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Easter phasing is still having an effect on the latest Meat, Fish and Poultry (MFP) figures from Kantar Worldpanel for the 12 weeks ending 24th April 2016. We have seen consumers enjoying a golden period of cheaper groceries as like-for-like prices have been falling every month since September 2014. MFP is a key category in these changes, with falling like-for-like prices across markets. Partly as a result, volume growth has been seen across all proteins, with the notable exception of Lamb.

Nathan Ward, Business Unit Director for MFP explains “In Meat & Poultry the real winners are Chicken, Turkey and Duck, seeing both value and volume growth due to additional shoppers picking up Breasts and Roasting Products. In the short term, Pork has improved on the challenging trend we’ve seen over the last year, with volume growth stimulated by more temporary price promotions and the strong performance of Pork Shoulders.” Lamb’s performance has been limited by smaller trips from 150k fewer shoppers as volume on promotion fell back from last year.

Ward continued “Fresh Fish continued to demonstrate the buoyancy of the category, with continued value and volume growth, driven by Natural Fish and Shellfish. The slight decline of Added Value stands out as this category has shown strong long term growth, but has stagnated this period”. The success of Natural Fish is driven by 620k more shoppers, buying more often, as Salmon, Haddock and Sea Bass all see significantly more shoppers. Prawns continue to remain the focus of growth for Shellfish, growing by £5m and adding 560k more shoppers.

The weather is improving and with a heatwave in early May, we might expect the BBQ season to start a little earlier this year. We hope that this will stimulate the Sausages, Burgers and Grills which are still experiencing volume declines. So will the great weather help these markets, or will primary meat benefit? Find out in our next market update in 4 weeks time.