Egg & poultry sales data: Versatility to be key factor as barbecue season looms

Poultry Business has teamed up with market research firm Kantar to provide readers with detailed insight and analysis into the retail market for eggs and poultry. We take a look at what has been driving sales in supermarkets in the past 12 weeks.

By Tobias Hill-Summers, Kantar analyst

The egg market has grown in both spend and volume terms over the past 12 weeks, with volume growing 0.5 percentage points faster than value, at 1.6%. The main driver of growth in the egg market has been the increase in number of shopping trips including eggs, growing by 1.6%, which has contributed £3.6m in additional spend to the category.

Fewer shoppers are holding back market growth, with half a percentage fewer shoppers over the 12 weeks, a trend that’s costing the egg market £1m. We are seeing a slight change in promotions; there are 2% less compared to last year, driven by a 40% decrease in Y for £X promotions, however total price reduction promotions have increased by 3.5%. Although promotions have fallen, this has not had any effect on the average price, which has remained flat.

Poultry meat

The poultry meat market has seen slight growth of 0.4% in the past 12 weeks, driven by more trips, with shoppers making on average 5.3 trips over the period. There are challenges in the short term, with a fall in the number of shoppers directly affecting the market and driving out almost £2.9m of sales compared to last year.

Brands remain a relatively small proportion of the market and have struggled against private label. In branded poultry, sales of all cuts have fallen within chicken, with value down 7.9%. For turkey where brands are stronger, we are seeing the same trend, with branded value sales on primary turkey falling by 51.1%, driven almost exclusively by declines in branded turkey roasting cuts.

With shoppers more conscious of how they’re spending their money, the pricing relationship will continue to be important not only between poultry and other proteins, but also tiers within poultry. We know that retailers are still looking to implement Everyday Low Pricing Strategies, with promotions falling over the long term. Looking ahead to the summer, we know that chicken performs well at barbecue occasions and is a large part of flavour-based NPD on the barbecue fixture, so may well see strong sales with another hot summer. The affordability and versatility of chicken will remain key to attracting shoppers and capitalising on the longer summer months.