Meat category stabilizes, but sales remain strong
As restaurants have reopened, meat retailers breathed a sigh of relief that many of the food behaviors that emerged during COVID are staying with us — cooking at home and family dinners, in particular — while the supermarket remains the primary destination for fresh meat, vaccines have opened up the country and summer barbecues with friends and family are back.
Add to that a stabilization of the meat supply chain after last year’s various disruptions (meatpacking plants closing due to COVID outbreaks, labor shortages in processing and delivery, shopper hoarding), and 2021 looks to be a very good year, on the heels of a record-setting 2020 when pandemic-spurred meat sales increased by a whopping 19.2% over 2019 for a total of $82.5 billon, according to the annual Power of Meat study released in April.
For the 52 weeks ending May 29, all meat sales were up 5.6% year over year, with most of those gains in beef (up 8.5%) and chicken (up 4%). Those numbers are more than respectable given the high bar set in 2020, and negated much of the worry that retailers were feeling about the possible impact of restaurant openings and home cooking fatigue on the meat category.
Maintaining sales
More digital engagement with customers as well as value-added options, new meal opportunities and filling the need for comfort foods can help retailers and the meat industry maintain the strong sales they’ve experienced in the category over the past year, noted John Beretta, group vice president, meat & seafood at Albertsons Cos., during The Meat Conference earlier this year.
“Supporting meal planning and solutions is going to be huge for our consumers as they start to go back to work,” he said. “They have less time preparing meals. So value-add and really value-add innovation is going to be very important for us to bring in this post-COVID economy.” He added that premiumization in the meat category will also help keep customers buying different cuts and types of meat going forward.
Beretta also said that as breakfast and lunch occasions moved inside the home last year, there is a great opportunity for retailers and meat producers even as restaurants reopen. “If we've got that consumer that's at home and not going back to work, we've got that captured audience,” he said. “So being very creative with lunch offerings is going to be big for us.”
Meal solutions will continue to be important as consumers emerge from the pandemic. Grocery chains, including Albertsons, are exploring new ways to provide family meals in-store or for pickup or delivery.
“What we've seen a lot of and talked about, social and digital and of course e-commerce consumers are gravitating towards that for their shopping behavior,” Beretta said. “Recipe hunting is big. So they're utilizing that within their pre-shops. It’s important for us as a retailer to bring that to life with our platforms where we can, both online, but even when they're in-store and giving them those ideas and suggestions. There's a lot less frequency of shopping but there's bigger baskets. So that shopping list is even more important than it ever was before.”
He added, “The pandemic also taught the customer that frozen meat and products can be part of a great end-of-week meal or backup meal that's there in the freezer for them. They're all great quality. They're convenient. And they're great to have on hand. So I'd say that that category is ripe for innovation as we go forward.”
Based on data from IRI and NielsenIQ, the SN Category Guide includes sales figures in fresh and center store departments for the past 12 months as well as the percent change in sales year-to-year.
Center Store Categories include shelf-stable groceries, frozen foods, nonfood and HBC, snacks and beverages. We also highlight the top center store product categories by sales, as well as the biggest sales gains and declines over the past year.
Fresh Categories include produce, dairy, meat, bakery and deli/prepared foods. We also feature the top fresh product categories by sales, as well as the biggest sales gains and those with declines or the lowest growth over the past year.