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Mixed fortunes for dairy retail sales
Wednesday, 5 October 2022
Overall, volumes of dairy declined year-on-year as we compare back to a period last year with more restrictions. During the 52 weeks ending 4 September 2022, retail sales volumes dropped for milk, cheese and yellow fats according to Kantar. However, higher prices meant total spend increased for both milk and yellow fats, while retail spend on cheese saw a small drop.
Spend on cow's milk increased by 4.4% in the year due to higher prices. The average price rose by 12.5% to £0.68/L - an 8 pence increase on last year. Volumes declined by 7.2% over the period, with semi-skimmed milk seeing the largest declines in volumes. Specific low fat % milk volumes growth has slowed, now up only 2.5% year-on-year, as prices now start to rise.
Yellow fats saw a decline in sales volume of 9.6%. Spend on yellow fats grew by 1.5%, with plant-based spreads being the only category to see spend growth. However, growth in plant-based spread volumes was not enough to balance the declines in block butter and spreads and margarine. The acceleration in sales of plant-based spreads has been driven by an increase in products coming to the market.
Volumes of cheese declined by 5.8% year-on-year with cheddar driving most of the decline. Despite average price rises of 5.3% year-on-year, spend on cheese declined by 0.8% in the year due to the loss in volume. Of the three products, cheese prices have seen the smallest annual increase in price. Cheddar accounted for 48% of volumes sold in the period. Snack and lunchbox cheeses continue to be the only category to see year-on-year growth through attracting new shoppers.
If you wish to see the data visualised or in more detail, this is available on our website via the dairy retail dashboard.
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