Welsh lamb boost as sales boom

The latest figures, covering the 12 weeks through the late summer and early autumn to October 4, show that British shoppers spent 15.5 per cent more on lamb than during the same period last year, and consumed 11 per cent more by volume.

Taking the year as a whole, lamb sales have rebounded strongly after a disappointing Easter – traditionally a time of peak demand but which this year was badly impacted by lockdown restrictions on family gatherings.

Since then, consumers have looked to new options as they’ve had more time to cook at home, and lamb has been a popular choice. Total spending on lamb in Britain is now up 7.9 per cent on the year to date, a period when HCC and retailers have invested in increased promotion in-store and via social media

The figures from Kantar Worldpanel suggest that the main reason for lamb’s growth in popularity is not only that existing consumers are buying more, but that new customers are giving lamb a try. The number of people purchasing lamb is up 9 per cent, with nearly a third of households buying it at least once during the 12-week period.

While lamb is still most popular among older consumers, this year has seen a number of younger shoppers trying lamb. A strong year-on-year increase in terms of the volume of lamb purchased has been seen in households with children (+17.2 per cent) and shoppers aged under 45 (+13.4 per cent).

HCC’s data analyst Glesni Phillips said: “After instability in the markets earlier in the year due to the disruption of the foodservice and hospitality trade, lamb’s popularity has been a notable feature of the British retail market.

“Our marketing strategy has centred on responding to consumer trends in this very unusual year – working with famous chefs to encourage people to try out new ideas at home.

“We’re pleased that the data shows increasing numbers of families and younger consumers trying lamb. We’ll continue to target marketing at this group in the run-up to Christmas.”