Volume sales of lamb roasting joints in the two weeks leading up to Easter this year rose by 25.5% compared to 2022, according to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).
Leg roasting joints accounted for almost 93% of all lamb roasting joints sold this Easter, and 62% of all lamb sold during the period.
The largest uplift in purchases was seen in the middle family demographic, rather than older consumers, where there was a 22.3% increase during the peak Easter purchasing period compared with last year.
AHDB cited the latest data from Kantar which showed that, in the two weeks leading up to Easter 2023, 9.7 million kg of roasting joints were sold through retailers – up 6% on last year.
However, according to AHDB retail and consumer insight analyst Charlottle Forkes-Rees, this increase is solely due to the performance of lamb.
Overall sales
Overall, the meat, fish and poultry category saw a 1.8% decline in sales during Easter 2023 compared to Easter 2022. Sales of beef joints fell by 0.7% and pork joints by 16.8%, while lamb saw its sales rise by over 25%.
According to Forkes-Rees, this is because of the slower rate of price rises for lamb roasting joints compared to its competitors.
“Despite commanding the highest average price per kilo of the red meats in the 12 weeks ending April 16, lamb has seen the smallest price increase in this time, up 9.9% compared with 10.8% and 13.4% uplifts for beef and pork respectively,” she said.
“Promotional activity around lamb at Easter was well supported by retailers.
“In the two weeks ending April 9, volumes sold of meat, fish and poultry sold on promotion accounted for 25.8% of total purchases. Lamb, however, saw 42.9% of its volumes sold on promotion.
“This may have helped convince consumers to treat themselves to lamb for their celebratory lunch, and switching to the category was seen from all other proteins.”
