Driven by the huge increase in at-home meal occasions during the COVID-19 pandemic, bacon, like numerous other proteins, has seen an upsurge in overall buyers vs. a year ago for the latest 52 weeks, ending June 14, 2020, in multi-retail outlets, excluding convenience, according to IRI, Chicago. For pre-COVID-19 activity, which for this article is the 52 weeks ending Feb. 23, 2020, buyers were slightly down, says Jennifer Jackson, IRI’s client insights consultant for protein.
In addition to buyers growing, shoppers also are purchasing more pounds, which is up 8.5 percent whereas pre-COVID-19 it was up less than 2 percent. Pre-COVID-19 product trips were down 0.7 percent, and for the latest 52 weeks they are up 0.3 percent, IRI reports.