Anne-Marie Roerink

Anne-Marie Roerink is the President of 210 Analytics LLC.

August sees comparatively small gains in retail meat sales

The last full week of August saw the smallest increases since the start of the pandemic across virtually all departments.

The net effect for the meat department was the first single-digit increase versus year ago since the week of March 15, at +1.5% (IRI).

Claims-based meat, poultry sales grow 32% during COVID-19

During the COVID-19 global pandemic, claims-based meat availability was spotty at times, which affected purchase ability. However, antibiotic-related claims, organic and grass-fed claims saw unprecedented growth rates.

During the March through July pandemic period, claims-based meat gained 31.9% in dollars (IRI).

Value-added meat shows major COVID-19 related gains

As pandemic shopping patterns started to unfold, many retailers had limited ability to create value-added items in-house, due to a lack of available labor hours. However, case-ready value-added items did very well.

With more consumers indicating they are struggling with weekly meal planning and coming up with new recipes, value-added meats will likely continue to see strong sales in weeks to come (IRI).

Club, grocery take lion’s share of COVID-19 meat dollars

Spending on meat in the club channel is still increasing, up 1.4 percentage points since the first pandemic measurement, the four weeks ending March 22. Traditional grocery, the largest channel, had a very high share during April, when shelter-in-place mandates were in place for the majority of states.

The traditional grocery and club channels continue to see an above average share of the pandemic meat dollar (IRI).

Meat gains soften as consumers feel economic pressure

Five months into the pandemic, 57% of primary grocery shoppers were extremely concerned about COVID-19, according to wave 16 of the IRI sentiment survey. The concern is driving continued elevated spending in food retail, while also hampering the recovery of foodservice.

The net result for the meat department was a double-digit gain in dollars, at +15.4% during the week ending August 2 versus the comparable week year ago (IRI).

Meat shoppers are extremely concerned about COVID-19 again

More than half, 56% of primary grocery shoppers, were extremely concerned about COVID-19 this week, according to the IRI survey of primary grocery shoppers.

Meat department dollar sales increased 22.2% versus year ago — about one percentage point less than last week’s 23.4% (IRI).

Growing COVID-19 concerns shift meat demand back to retail

Over the past two months, everyday demand had been experiencing week to week erosion as consumers started reengaging with foodservice.

So far during the pandemic, starting March 15 through July 19, dollar sales are up 35.3% and volume sales have increased 21.9% versus the same period last year (IRI).

Everyday demand continues to drive meat sales in July

The week ending July 12 was a non-holiday week, but did bring better prices in the meat department along with more consumers shopping for food.

Elevated everyday demand resulted in a 21.4% increase in dollar sales versus year ago (IRI).

July 4th: A big meat holiday even bigger amid COVID-19

So far, the 2020 pandemic-affected holidays have seen strong sales performances. Without exception, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Memorial Day boosted the elevated everyday demand even higher to achieve astounding gains versus year ago. Independence Day was no exception.

So far during the pandemic, starting March 15 through July 5, dollar sales are up 36.4% and volume sales have increased 23.0% versus the same period last year (IRI).

Will consumers keep up with rising meat prices?

The meat department had much improved its in-stock position the week ending June 28 and assortment continued to recover from May lows. However, prices remained highly elevated and that was the big unknown relative to everyday demand versus year ago.

For the week ending June 28, the demand resulted in a 15.8% increase in dollars for meat sales, but volume dropped in line with the prior year at 0.6% (IRI).

Father’s Day weekend boosts retail meat sales

The week ending June 21st was Father’s Day weekend and the results for the meat department, and beef in particular, were astounding.

Growth percentages for most of the proteins jumped back up Father’s Day weekend after tapering off for weeks (IRI).

COVID-19: Retail meat sales start to normalize

Total meat department sales came in just under $1.4 billion for the week of June 14.

Growth percentages for most of the proteins are tapering off compared with mid-March, April and May, but some of the smaller proteins continued to see high gains off their much smaller base (IRI).

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