Year-to-date, fresh meat volume sales have been positive every month with the one exception of April when the shift in Easter timing overrode the general strength of everyday demand, according to the May Performance Report by Circana, 210 Analytics and Hillphoenix.
In May, fresh meat pounds were up 1.5 percent versus last year and 2.5 percent versus two years ago. This more than offset the declines in processed meat, resulting in a 0.5 percent pound increase for the total meat department.
In the 52-week view, pound sales also pulled into positive territory, up 0.6 percent versus last year and up 0.2 percent versus two years ago. This is also driven by the strength of demand for fresh meat.
Four out of the five May weeks experienced volume growth in comparison to year-ago levels. The final week ending June 2nd pulled down the positive momentum to result in the 0.5 percent increase for the entire month of May.
With May delivering another strong performance, the year-to-date meat department sales reached $42.6 billion, which reflects an increase of 3.7 percent. Year-to-date pound sales reached 9.3 billion, which is up 1.8 percent over the same period last year.
Fresh Meat Sales by Protein
Fresh meat sales continued to strengthen in May, with pound gains for all but pork and veal. In the 52-week view, more and more proteins are starting to track ahead year-on-year in pound sales as well. This includes fresh beef that has experienced above-average inflation due to tight supply conditions. Fresh chicken increased pound sales 3.1 percent year-on-year and lamb (while a smaller seller) is pacing 10.6 percent ahead of year-ago levels.
| May 2024 | Latest 52 weeks ending 6/2/2024 | |||||||||
| Type | $ sales | $ vs. YA | Lbs vs. YA | Type | $ sales | $ vs. YA | Lbs vs. YA | |||
| Total fresh meat | $6.9B | +5.2% | +1.5% | Total fresh meat | $69.8B | +3.8% | +1.3% | |||
| Fresh beef | $3.8B | +7.2% | +2.6% | Fresh beef | $37.8B | +7.0% | +0.7% | |||
| Fresh chicken | $1.9B | +3.0% | +1.7% | Fresh chicken | $18.8B | +1.0% | +3.1% | |||
| Fresh pork | $849M | +2.3% | -3.0% | Fresh pork | $8.3B | -1.0% | -1.5% | |||
| Fresh turkey | $223M | +4.5% | +7.4% | Fresh turkey | $3.3B | +2.4% | +1.0% | |||
| Fresh lamb | $79M | +6.4% | +17.2% | Fresh lamb | $856M | -0.3% | +10.6% | |||
| Fresh exotic | $20M | +17.6% | +14.4% | Fresh exotic | $218M | +11.7% | +5.3% | |||
| Veal | $4M | -5.0% | -5.0% | Veal | $44M | -11.2% | -9.5% | |||
The full report is available by clicking here.
