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The levy group has revealed that lamb saw a 16.9% decrease in volume sales

Lamb sales have declined year on year as prices have rocketed, new data from AHDB has shown.

The levy group has revealed that lamb saw a 16.9% decrease in volume sales [12 w/e 23 March 2025] and a 12.7% decrease in value sales.

The group said this was down to Easter falling earlier last year. However, prices have also been on the rise, with cost on average up 5% in the same period.

According to analysis by The Grocer, on-shelf lamb prices at the traditional big four, Waitrose, Aldi and Lidl are up by an average of 11% [Assosia 53 w/e 15 April 2025].

The most significant rise was as high as 76%, with 56 out of 130 lines increasing by more than 10% in the year.

The AHDB data revealed that primary lamb saw a 24.5% decrease in volumes purchased and processed lamb saw a 6.8% decline. Burgers and grills drove the decline due to decreased shopper numbers and volumes purchased per shopper.

For added-value products, there was a 12.2% decrease in volumes purchased, with both marinades (–32.7%) and sous vide (–-8.2%) in decline.

Diced lamb, however, did see volume growth, up 32.6%, as did steak, up 9.1%, both due to an increase in volumes purchased per buyer and an increase in shopper numbers.

Elsewhere in  the category, beef saw a marginal decrease of 0.7% in the period. However, spend on beef products increased (4.4%) thanks to a 5.2% increase in average prices paid.

Pork experienced a marginal increase, shifting an equivalent 542 tonnes more than the same period last year. Spend also rose by 1.5% with a 1.2% increase in average prices paid.