Anne-Marie RoerinkAnne-Marie Roerink is the President of 210 Analytics LLC.From the AuthorPoultry FutureMeat consumers feel the pinch of rising retail pricesThe February IRI shopper survey found that 90% of shoppers have noticed the price increases across the various grocery departments and 96% of those consumers are concerned about it.Consumer TrendsInflationary pressure, COVID worries impact meat purchasesThe combination of 40-year high inflation and the upswing in COVID-19 cases moved more meals to the home in January 2022, at 82% of all meal occasions. This is the highest number since February 2021.Poultry FutureInflation keeps poultry consumers away from foodserviceNovember 2021 picked up where October left off: Grocery shopping and food consumption patterns remained in flux, especially as holiday purchases started much earlier.Consumer TrendsReturn to normalcy boosts turkey sales for ThanksgivingMore people are planning on celebrating Thanksgiving this year, with 60% saying they will celebrate the holiday as usual, defined as the way they did before COVID-19.Poultry FutureApril meat retail sales stabilize as COVID concerns subsideMeat department sales spiked 35.4% above year ago levels in April 2020, creating a tough year-over-year target. That means, when going up against those sales spikes, meat dropped further behind year-ago levels than other perimeter departments, including produce, deli and bakery.Poultry FutureMarch 2021 meat retail sales still well above 2019 levelsIn March 2021, sales started lapping the enormous spikes of 2020 and the comparison to year-ago levels turned negative for of the meat department even though the demand stayed well ahead of the 2019 baseline.Poultry FutureMeat department starts off 2021 with accelerated gainsWhile early on in the pandemic many shoppers started out indulging in traditional and “comfort food” choices, January kicked off with New Year’s resolutions for 64% of shoppers. For meat, this means the consumer’s eye is on nutrition as well as price and promotion.Poultry FutureMeat department closes out 2020 nearly 20% above 2019 levelsIn 2020, overall meat dollar sales increased 18.4% and volume sales grew 10.3% versus the same period last year. This translates into an additional $12.7 billion in meat department sales during the pandemic, which includes an astounding additional $5.7 billion for beef, $1.6 billion for chicken and $1.1 billion for pork than during the same period in 2019.Poultry FutureMeat once more rules fresh perimeter sales in NovemberNovember sales are dominated by the all important Thanksgiving holiday — one of the largest retail opportunities in meat and many other retail departments. This makes it a hard-to-beat sales occasion any year.Poultry FutureTurkey sales increase despite altered Thanksgiving plansWhile restaurants certainly take some of the Thanksgiving food spend in typical years, the holiday is largely a retail-focused expenditure.Poultry FutureRetail meat, poultry sales remain strong in OctoberEight months into the pandemic, COVID-19 remains in firm control of how and where people spend their food dollar.Poultry FutureMeat department sales have a strong Labor Day weekendFollowing its first single-digit gain since the onset of the pandemic last week, the meat department bounced back strongly.Page 1 of 4Next Page