The long awaited summer heatwave, which finally hit most parts of the UK in July, did little to drive additional sales of burgers and sausages, according to the latest meat, fish and poultry (MFP) figures released by market analysts, Kantar Worldpanel.
The company’s report, covering the 12 weeks ending July 17, showed traditional BBQ staples of burgers and sausages enduring “depressed volumes” despite the upturn in the weather, with the final four weeks of the review period producing a “faster decline” in BBQ demand for burgers.
Having waited for the hotter weather to arrive, people appear to have moved their BBQ demand to primary meat and poultry items, which experienced “strong volume growth” over the 12-week period.
One clear winner, in this context, was beef, which Kantar’s MFP business unit director, Nathan Ward, said had seen a return to value and volume growth with 400,000 more shoppers buying beef during the 12 weeks than in the equivalent period last year.
Chicken sales also did well in terms of volume, which Mr Ward (pictured above) said showed “impressive growth”. He was less positive on prices, however, which managed only “limited value growth”.
The picture was quite the opposite for chilled fish, with value growing ahead of volume, backed by 730,000 more shoppers buying fish during the review period than in the same 12 weeks in 2015.