It’s a hard time to be a butcher. TNS* figures for the 52 weeks to August show butchers sales down by 5.2%, which compares to an increase of 5.7% for meat sales through all shops. Whilst the turnover figures are bad, tonnage sales are horrific. Butchers are selling 20% less pork than last year, 18% less lamb, 12% less beef, and 15% less sausages. And year on year declines are getting worse. Tonnage sales in the last 12 weeks show a 24% drop in sausage sales, 18% drop in beef, 16% in lamb and 18% in pork.
Meat sales generally have been struggling, but butchers seem to be suffering especially badly. The comparable numbers for the total meat market in the last twelve weeks are sausages +2%, beef -2%, pork -1%, and lamb -16%.
Price is likely to one of the problems, with many people thinking that butchers are expensive. The price difference between the average butcher and the top 4 multiples is about £1 per kilo dearer on lamb, 54p per kilo on pork, and 26p a kilo on beef.
Another issue might be that you never know when buying from the butcher quite what the bill will be. And it’s a brave person who, confronted with more cost than expected, asks for the piece to be cut smaller. Contrast this with supermarkets where everything is price marked, you know exactly what the cost will be, and can be confident of sticking to your budget.
The meat trade needs strong butchers as they are a way to avoid total domination by supermarkets, and some butchers are a beacon of hope in a generally gloomy picture. The reasons seem to be firstly, a refusal to compromise on quality, secondly a willingness to embrace consumer trends such as selling locally produced fully traceable meat, and thirdly, being prepared to experiment with supermarket type tactics like prepriced joints and promotional offers, all of which helps keep their customers loyal in difficult economic times.
*TNS is Taylor Nelson Sofres.
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