Chicken sales dipped this Easter as shoppers switched back to more conventional red meat meals to celebrate with family.
In 2020 lockdown restrictions over Easter saw many shoppers opt for whole chicken roasts as households were not allowed to mix.
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This year at Easter, families were allowed to socialise together once again, and red meats were the clear category winner.
Roasting volume sales were up across beef (45%), lamb (42%) and pork (25%), while whole chicken sales declined for the first time in years.
Pork roasting joints also gained considerably on 2019 figures, seeing a 36% increase in volume sales.
Price-conscious
This was most likely due to many watching their spending, with 42% saying they are more price-conscious than they were pre-Covid, according to AHDB Retail Insight Analyst Grace Randall.
She said: Easter is a key celebration for all roasting joints, particularly lamb, with 15 per cent of annual sales coming from the Easter period alone.
“Last year, many didn’t celebrate Easter or turned to chicken due to lockdown restrictions, but this year we have certainly seen a significant return to lamb.
Barbeques
“The rules of only mixing outside brought a new opportunity to Easter this year by the way of BBQ’s, which we could see continuing into next year – weather dependant, of course.
“Google searches for ‘BBQ’ boomed the weekend before Easter, and volume sales of sausages, burgers, grills and steaks all grew from 2019 levels. This is certainly one to watch.”
