The Easter period helped boost lamb sales to hold up well during the first quarter of 2023, despite the pressure on household budgets caused by high inflation.
Strong sales over the Easter season saw nearly a one-quarter uplift in volumes compared to a year before, with fresh lamb roasting joints a firm favourite with holiday buyers.
Figures released by Kantar for the period suggest many shoppers switched from other cheaper proteins, including chicken, to lamb this Easter.
Hybu Cig Cymru-Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) said, however, that lamb continued to be a favourite with the older category of shopper.
Glesni Phillips, HCC’s market intelligence officer said: "Shoppers who were retired or had no children at home contributed to more than half of the growth seen within the lamb category."
Ms Phillips said that during the year so far, total spend was up almost six percent on year-earlier levels at £211 million.
She added: “This is unsurprising as inflation has caused the average price of lamb to increase by some five per cent on the year to around £12.07 per kg.
"However, the total volume of lamb sold is stable on the corresponding period last year – and is indeed some 0.3 per cent higher”.
She reported roasting joints did well over Easter with lamb leg roasting joints experiencing a notable increase in the number of buyers, up almost 18% on last year’s holiday sales period.
“Here in Wales, HCC has established a strong supermarket in-store presence for the Welsh Lamb brand," Ms Phillips reported.
"Many retailers also had promotions this year so it’s reasonable to conclude that this would have helped attract new buyers to the category."
Across the UK, the volume of lamb leg roasting joints sold so far this year is up some 13% on year-earlier levels.
They currently account for almost half of the volume of lamb sold so far in 2023 at retail.
