A staggering 94 percent of British consumers bought red meat in December 2019 while growth of meat-free products slowed, figures show.
This is according to the AHDB, who have analysed people's food trends for the four weeks to 29 December 2019.
Their analysis shows that while there was growth in meat-free products (+2.8% volume), that growth slowed compared to last year.
And while people are not giving up red meat altogether, beef, lamb and pork did suffer as a result of some shoppers switching to white meat.
Volumes were, however, also affected by the move to smaller joints, AHDB says.
More households also moved away from buying more than one protein, with 57% of shoppers buying only one type of meat this Christmas.
Despite this, gammon was still a firm festive favourite. In the two weeks to 29 December, it was bought by more households than fresh turkey.
This helped supermarkets gain further sales; as those shoppers who bought gammon or pork roasting joints actually spent more in store in the same shopping trip, than they did when purchasing fresh turkey in the 4 w/e 29 December.
Turkey remained an important part of the Christmas plate, but a continued move towards smaller birds and crowns could be seen.
It meant that while people still bought turkey, volumes were down. This was also the case for most roasting joints and, therefore, growth was hard to come by.
Looking at the analysis, AHDB says people are 'still attracted' to the meat category: “Innovations are one way to grow sales, particularly if they are affordable.
“Aldi’s two-metre-long pig in blanket is a great example, with over 10,000 people purchasing it this Christmas – two-thirds of whom didn’t buy pigs in blankets last Christmas.
“Not only were they shoppers who had not previously bought this product, but often younger shoppers,” the body said.
