Meat sales surge, led by fresh beef

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Dive Brief:

• Meat sales were up by more than 5% in September compared with the same month in 2023, to $7.9 billion, according to Circana data released Oct. 15 by 210 Analytics.
• Fresh beef sales led the way, coming in nearly 11% ahead of their level a year ago.
• Meat department growth slowed in September but remains well above its pace earlier in the year.

Dive Insight:

Meat sales are being helped along by robust everyday and holiday demand for animal protein from shoppers more focused on eating at home than they were in the past, 210 Analytics’ report indicated.

Fresh meat sales soared 8% in September to reach $5.6 billion, and the volume consumers purchased rose by more than 4%.

Fresh beef sales — which accounted for more than half of fresh meat sales in September — were especially high during the month, passing the $3 billion mark. Fresh pork also had a strong month, with sales rising more than 5% to about $660 million, while fresh turkey sales rose by a similar percentage, to about $200 million.

Fresh lamb saw the biggest volume jump, up by just under 11% compared with September 2023.

While fresh meat sales took off in September, sales of processed meat products were flat during the month on a year-over-year basis, although the volume of products sold ticked up by about 1%.

Packaged lunch meat, which accounted for about a quarter of all processed meat sales last month, posted the weakest results among the types of meat Circana tracks, with sales and volume both down by 3%. On the upside, bacon, dinner sausage and processed chicken all posted gains, with growth in the volume of processed chicken sold surpassing 13%.

Ground beef sales were another hotspot for the meat sector, with sales shooting up nearly 10%, to $1.2 billion. But ground lamb sales fell by more than 15%, to $3.5 million. and the volume of that product shoppers bought was off by a quarter.

The meat department’s strong performance in September reflected especially robust sales during the first week of the month attributable to Labor Day, 210 Analytics noted. Year-to-date sales for the category reached $76.8 billion in September, up 4.4% compared with the same period in 2023, while volume rose 2.1%.