Consumer spending on pork was down 4% year-on-year during March to May, according to the latest Kantar Worldpanel data.
The fall in sales was driven by declining expenditure on chops/steaks and leg roasting joints. Despite lower prices for these cuts, this didn’t translate into greater purchasing as volume sales also suffered, most notably on leg roasting joints, where sales fell by just over 20%. This has been led by a drop in promotional intensity in one of the major multiples and some consumers, particularly those shopping with the hard discounters, switching to chops/steaks.
Despite these switching gains, volume sales of chops/steaks also fell, partly due to a shift from volume-driving X for Y promotions to price promotions. The one sector that continues to perform well is mince, which enjoyed volume growth of 20% compared to a year ago. Spending on sausages was up 2% over the latest period, compared to last year.
While growth came from all categories, standard sausages contributed some two thirds of the actual growth in value sales. The growth in the standard tier was driven by increased prices across most retailers, which didn’t impact on volume performance.
Expenditure on bacon was flat year-on-year, with a 3% drop in volume sales being offset by an equal increase in prices. Shopper spend on ham was up 6%, driven in the main by increased volume sales in the discounters, where prices were down some 5% against a year ago.