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The most recent Kantar data published by the UK's Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) on beef and lamb retail purchases in the UK suggests a weak retail demand for the product.
Beef volume purchases for the year ending 22 January 2023 fell by 8.2%.
This was even though customers spent the same amount of money on a product that cost 9% more than it did a year earlier.
Beef sales
All types of beef lost volume sales in the past year, ranging from a 3.8% drop in the volumes of mince bought to a huge 20.3% drop in the volume of roasts purchased and an 18% drop in the volume of steaks bought by consumers.
In terms of shopper spending on these products, they spent 8% less on steaks, 11% less on roasts and almost 7% less on mince.
The impact of inflation meant that the cost of these products on the shelf were 11% higher for mince, 11.7% higher for roasts and 12.2% higher for steaks.
Looking at the last quarter, the 12 weeks leading up to 22 January, the trend is similar, but on a lower scale compared with the 52-week trend.
The volume of beef bought in this quarter fell by 2.5%, but the amount spent was 8% higher.
Steak sales were down 8% for volume, but spend was up 2.3%, while mince actually recorded a small 1.3% growth in volume and shoppers spent 11.5% more on mince purchases.
Lamb sales
The volume or quantity of lamb bought by consumers in supermarkets and butchers in the UK fell by a significant 17% during the year and the money they spent was down by just under 9% for a product that cost almost 10% more than it did a year earlier.
What the data tells us
Beef and lamb in supermarkets competes for shoppers' attention alongside thousands of other products.
With household inflation running at its highest for decades, shoppers have had to choose carefully on their food purchases to fit within household budgets, where heat and transport costs have also been increasing.
Both beef and lamb are relatively expensive proteins and pork and poultry offer cheaper alternatives. Against this background, the performance of beef and lamb could be considered to have performed strongly, as they are what can be described as discretionary purchases.
Given the strong wholesale demand for beef, particularly over the past 12 weeks, it is clear that the route to market isn’t just through butchers and supermarkets.
Society has returned to relative normal post-COVID and events and hospitality are restored to full capacity.
The market for 'food to go', whether that is a fast food burger or a sit-down meal, is also driving the demand, particularly for beef at a time when supply is relatively tight.
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