While early on in the pandemic many shoppers started out indulging in traditional and “comfort food” choices, January kicked off with New Year’s resolutions for 64% of shoppers. More than one third, 35%, aim to eat healthier, in general; 35% want to get more exercise; and 29% plan to save more money, according to the IRI Consumer Network survey conducted in January 2021. For meat, this means the consumer’s eye is on nutrition as well as price and promotion.
January saw a recovery of trip frequency to slightly above year ago levels while the basket size remained highly elevated. This resulted in high gains over January 2020 levels for total edibles, which is all food and beverage related items, at +12.7%. This is up significantly from a subdued December (+8.1%).