Beef Expenditure Increases Despite Sales Drop
UK - Expenditure on beef in GB during the 52 week period ending 28 October 2012 has shown an increase on the corresponding period in 2011. Total expenditure on beef and
beef products in GB showed a four per
cent increase between these periods to
£1,994 million for the year ending 28
October 2012.
This increase in the value of sales has
come about despite a decline in the
volume of beef sold on the domestic
market. The increase in the value of
sales has therefore come about as a
result of an increase in the cost per kg of
beef as opposed to an increase in sales.
The average retail price increased by
seven per cent to £6.72/kg in the year
ending 28 October 2012 when
compared to the previous year.
It is likely that the rising cost of beef to
the consumer has been responsible for
the decline in volume sales which were
back three per cent in the 52 weeks
ending 28 October 2012 compared to
the previous year.
This drop in volume
sales has resulted in a three per cent
drop in the average weight purchased to
13kg/per head. The 52 week
penetration figures indicate that 86.6
per cent of GB households purchased
beef at some point in the last 52 weeks.
This is back one per cent on the previous
year.
While all major beef cuts have shown a
decline in volume sales between the two
periods there has been a variation in the
performance of particular cuts of beef.
For example sales of beef roasting joints
experienced a 13 per cent decline in
sales year on year, sales of frying and
grilling steaks were back 7.6 per cent
and sales of stewing steak were back 3.3
per cent.
Sales of beef mince showed
the lowest level of decline with a 3.2 per
cent drop in sales. However while beef
sales over the 52 weeks have shown a
decline for the major cuts there has been
an increase in the sale of beef
marinades which sold an additional
9,279 tonne and in doing so increased
its volume market share from 1.9 per
cent to 5.1 per cent.
The lower value of
these products however has meant the
additional sales have had little impact on
the total spend on beef.
On a more promising note stronger beef
sales over the four weeks ending 28
October have led to a slight increase in
volume purchases when compared to
the same period in 2011 (+1 per cent) as
outlined in Figure 1.
The six per cent
increase in the average price of beef to
£6.89/kg during this period has driven
an increase in the expenditure on beef
by seven per cent on the corresponding
period in 2011 (Figure 2).
However as with the 52 week data there
has been a variance in how sales of
particular cuts have performed. Sales of
beef roasting joints during the four week
period showed a strong increase of 13.1
per cent year on year while sales of beef
mince were up 4.1 per cent on the same
period in 2011.
In contrast sales of
stewing steak were down four per cent
while sales of frying and grilling steaks
were back 4.4 per cent when comparing
the two periods.
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