The week ending June 21st was Father’s Day weekend and the results for the meat department as a whole, and beef in particular, were astounding. In 2019, Father’s Day fell a week earlier and provided a 5% boost in spending versus 2018. The weeks leading up to the 2020 Father’s Day week were plagued with supply chain tightness and purchasing limits. However, the week of Father’s Day, the meat department had much improved its in-stock position, the widest assortment seen in weeks and purchase limitations were more the exception than the rule. However, prices remained highly elevated and that was the big unknown relative to the success of Father’s Day 2020. The second unknown was consumer engagement with foodservice, with restaurants in most parts of the country reopened, albeit with social distancing measures in place.
Despite prices and restaurant competition, the Father’s Day sales bump was much higher than the year prior, with sales gains for the week of June 21 of 31.9%. This marks the 15th week of double-digit gains since the onset of the pandemic. Much like Mother’s Day and Memorial Day, this shows a disproportionate bump for retail meat sales for the spring and summer holidays thus far.