Category update: Seafood unit sales take a deep dive in December

Fresh beef 🥩 was the only fresh meat category to register a year-over-year increase in pounds sold in December, at 4.9%. Breakfast sausage (up 0.8% year over year) and processed chicken (up 9.4%) were the only positive categories in pounds sold in the processed meat sector. Ground meat was up 4.4% in pounds sold, led by ground lamb (up 19%) and ground chicken (up 15.1%)

Produce 🍎 experienced mixed results in December. Frozen fruit and vegetables saw a 3% increase in units sold, but shelf-stable fruits dropped 3.4%, and shelf-stable vegetables were flat. Overall, the fresh produce department saw a 1% increase in units sold in December. Berries were the top seller, with a 15.5% increase in pounds sold year over year

Seafood 🐟 sales continued to struggle in December. Fresh seafood and frozen seafood were both down year over year—8.7% and 5.6%, respectively. Shelf-stable seafood rose 3.3%. For the year, fresh seafood lost 2.3% in pounds sold year over year, and frozen seafood was down 0.5%. Shelf-stable seafood rose 4%. Fresh shellfish took a nosedive in December, down 18.3% in pounds sold compared to December 2023. Lobster decreased 32.9%, and crab dropped 21.9%

Frozen and refrigerated 🧊 food sales were relatively flat in terms of units sold in December. Frozen food unit sales were down 0.7% year over year, while refrigerated food was up 1%. Refrigerated cheese snack kits (up 13.5%), cottage cheese (up 11.6%), and yogurt (up 8.9%) all helped boost the numbers. Meanwhile, egg prices surged by 53.3% year over year. Many frozen food categories suffered unit sales losses, but the frozen processed meat/poultry category increased by 7.8% year over year. Unit sales for frozen plain potatoes spiked by 18.7%

Bakery and deli 🥖🧀 suffered unit losses in December. Total bakery sales dipped 0.6% year over year, and deli sales were down 0.5%. Croissants (up 7.8%) and snack cakes (up 6.9%) were the leaders in bakery. For deli, deli meat sales were down 9.4% in units sold year over year, and service deli cheese dropped 8.3%. However, deli-prepared meats rose 7.3% in units sold compared to a year ago.

It was a dismal year for plant-based meat alternatives 🌿, as unit sales were down 8.7% in December, and for the entire 52-week period, they dropped 9.7%

The fresh perimeter saw a 3.5% year-over-year increase in sales, with units growing by 0.4%. The price per unit across all foods and beverages stood at $4.35, a year-over-year increase of 2.3%, according to Circana

Eggs, beef, and other areas influenced the unit price, with some consumers in California paying up to $9 for a dozen Grade A Large eggs 

The average price per pound in the meat department across all cuts and kinds, both fixed and random weight, was $4.63 in December, led by fresh chicken ($3.13, up 4.2%) and bacon ($6.22, up 4.3%), a robust 4.2% increase compared to December 2023

Center-store prices averaged $3.93, up 2.1% from a year ago

Turkey and ham sales continued to lag in December, similar to November. Smoked ham was down 3.9% in pounds sold year over year, with semi-boneless and boneless ham dropping 13.7% and 7.7%, respectively. Spiral ham dipped 3.5% year over year. On the turkey side, whole bird turkey sales dropped 16% in pounds sold compared to December 2023. Turkey wings and turkey legs decreased 12.6% and 9.1%, respectively