Meat’s ‘Extraordinary’ Comeback

Meat—fresh and frozen, all species and cuts—has been on fire since March. As WGB reported in last month’s Fresh Food Handbook, after years of produce dominating perimeter sales, meat outpaced fresh fruits and vegetables this year. And given the latest figures from big data provider IRI, the category is no flash in the pandemic-driven pan. Meat sales are strong and poised to remain so well into 2021.

“In a way, the pandemic provided us a look at just how popular meat still is,” says Anne-Marie Roerink, principal with 210 Analytics. “It is much harder to track sales in the foodservice channel, and with dollars moving from restaurants to retail seemingly overnight, retail meat volume rose to extraordinary levels. During the mid-March stock-up weeks, we saw meat department sales close to doubling. But the even bigger story is the continued strength of meat in subsequent months.”

Eight months into the pandemic, the meat department still sits 15%-20% above year-ago levels, notes Roerink. “And with many consumers having purchased different brands, types and cuts of meat and poultry, the meat industry is likely to benefit from increased meat knowledge and affinity for years to come. Given the meat department’s consistently strong performance, sales are likely to remain around 15% above year ago levels for a while to come.”

And while consumers are shopping less frequently since the pandemic, they are buying more, including meat, when they do. “If retail is able to maintain that level of engagement, the future is bright,” she says. “At the same time, it is important to recognize the decrease in volume in foodservice, which caused an imbalance in the market and sales pressure for those in the industry selling into restaurants.”

Total Meat

Total U.S. multioutlet (MULO) | YA is the year ago for the same weeks ending 2019; 2 YA is the same weeks ending 2018; 3 YA is the same weeks ending 2017 | IRI Unify in the Integrated Fresh syndicated hierarchy and data model was used for this report

Latest 52 Weeks Ending Oct. 4, 2020 (All numbers represent precent changes of dollar sales)

Notes: Meat alternative/substitutes is refrigerated plant-based proteins only | All other meat includes lamb, veal, exotic game/fowl and generic “ring-on” codes assigned to the meat department

Plant-Based Proteins

Latest 52 Weeks Ending Oct. 4, 2020 (All numbers represent precent changes of dollar sales)

Notes: Meat alternative/substitutes is itemized for refrigerated plant-based proteins only | Meat alternative/substitutes frozen and total are included to reference share relevance to total store plant-based protein products

Source: IRI Syndicated Integrated Fresh database, which combines random- and fixed-weight brands/product types known to be sold in this department at the majority of retailers

Measures: Dollar sales refers to the total cumulative dollar sales sold for that product during the time period (not included, but used as reference) | Dollar sales change refers to the percent difference between the current and prior period for total dollar sales | Dollar share to dept. refers to the total dollar sales of that product divided by the total dollar sales of the department to which it belongs | Dollar share to category refers to the total dollar sales of that subcategory divided by the total dollar sales of the parent category.

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