Dive Brief:
- U.S. grocery shoppers bought fewer pounds of fresh and processed meat in June than they did during the same month a year ago, building on a smaller decline in May, according to Circana sales data published by 210 Analytics.
- Total meat department volume was off by 2.3% last month, although sales for the category rose by more than 1% as prices continued to rise.
- Meat sales have recently been under pressure as prices for certain proteins, especially beef, have risen sharply
Dive Insight:
Processed meat took a bigger hit than fresh meat in June as shoppers continued to deal with higher prices for many animal products. But despite lagging year over year, meat department volume was still up compared with levels recorded two years ago, 210 Analytics noted.
The category’s more than 2% volume drop in June was significantly higher than the approximately 1% decrease in May, when the decline for processed meat also outpaced the level for fresh meat, according to the market research firm.
Measured by pounds sold, processed meat sales were off by almost 5% last month, led by packaged lunchmeat, which saw a volume decline of 9%. Frankfurter volume declined by almost 8%, while the number of pounds of bacon sold fell by almost 6%. Only dinner sausages posted an increase in pounds sold, recording a bump of less than 1%.
Fresh meat volume, meanwhile, fell in June by a more modest 1.4%, as beef volume dropped almost 2% and veal by 12%. By contrast, the number of pounds of chicken sold was off by less than 1% and fresh turkey volume moved up nearly 3%, suggesting that people are shifting to those proteins as costs for other kinds of meat go up.
Meat prices rose sharply overall in June, led by beef and veal, which saw year-over-year inflation of almost 12%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Prices for uncooked beef roasts rose almost 14%, while uncooked ground beef prices were up more than 12%.
On the other hand, pork prices were up last month by only 2.4%, with bacon and related products down by 1.5%. Poultry prices, meanwhile, were flat.
Meat volume moved down in June as grocers also faced pressure in other categories. Overall, the number of grocery products sold in the U.S. was down by almost 2% last month compared with the same period in 2025, Bain & Company reported in an analysis of data from NielsenIQ.
