England’s early exit from the football World Cup, followed by a chilly August, took its toll on this year’s barbecue business, according to BPEX.
Quoting the latest data released by Kantar Worldpanel, for the 12 weeks ending August this year, BPEX highlighted a 20-million difference in barbecue meal occasions between 2013 and 2014. Â Part of this was due to 2013 being the driest and warmest barbecue season for seven years, resulting in a massive 85m meal occasions being created during the June-August period. The total this year, in contrast, was down at 65m.
“May and June performed well,” said BPEX, “but England’s early exit from the World Cup, followed by chilly August weather meant that the peak was much lower than in 2013.”
Sausages and burgers, the most popular barbecue meats, both increased their share of sales this year, compared to summer 2013, featuring in around 36m barbecue occasions each. Lamb also achieved a growth in the sector, increasing from 5m to 7m on a year-to-year comparison. This left pork and chicken with a smaller market share than 12 months ago.Â