Christmas 2022 saw consumers turn their backs on turkey in favour of alternative meats, with gammon sales soaring, according to data released by Pilgrim’s UK.
The integrated pork processors said it delivered more than four million pork products to British retailers, including almost 1.6 million gammon joints. Data collected by Kantar also shows that retailers experienced a 5.1% uplift in volume (kg) sales and a 23.6% increase in value sales year-on-year of fresh gammon products in the four weeks to December 25, 2022.
Additionally, fresh primary gammon also increased its volume share (kg) of the wider protein category by 5.5% year-on-year, up to 9.4%.
The data released reflects an ongoing decline in the consumption of turkey at Christmas, which is down 3% to 7% over the last five years. This year’s sales have been further affected by bird flu which has reduced the availability of turkey, coupled with increases in the popularity of pork, gammon in particular, as a versatile option.
Chief commercial officer at Pilgrim’s UK, Rachel Griffiths, said: “Consumers switched to more cost-effective pork products, such as gammon joints, to be the star of the show for their Christmas dinner centrepieces, increasing in volume sales by 5.1% compared to last year. It’s versatility, simple and more energy efficient cooking method and absolutely delicious taste further solidified its place as a key festive staple.
“Our dedicated teams started production early to meet this demand for pork products producing almost 1.6 million high quality gammon joints and more than 157,000 pork crackling joints to ensure our retail customers were well stocked for the festive period.”