In the latest meat, fish and poultry (MFP) market update from Kantar Worldpanel, chilled fish has seen the highest value growth, attracting 332,000 more shoppers. With Veganuary having minimal impact.

Covering the 12 weeks to 27th January, Kantar has seen all fish sectors with volume growth except shellfish which is seeing static volumes.

Chilled fish continues to show a strong performance as volume outstrips value growth, attracting 332,000 more shoppers and 2.6m more trips.

Salmon, cod and pollock are the key species driving volume growth, as natural drives salmon, breaded drives pollock and cod grows across all sectors except added value.

Promotions are rising, up 4% in volume, but it is keener everyday pricing which is stimulating growth with non-promoted sales up 5%.

Naturals remains the largest area and has seen 2m more trips compared to last year, with 461,000 more shoppers in the category.

Nathan Ward, business unit director, MFP, also explains: “Christmas is still lurking in the figures, but despite the media profile of Veganuary, the impact on our market is relatively low.

“When we focus on the last four weeks when Veganuary was running, we’ve seen flat volumes for primary meat and poultry, with fish still in strong growth, so any impact is minimal on the core categories.

“What we are seeing is the continued impact of uncertainty and retailer price wars driving down prices and causing shoppers to be more conscious of their spending”

The decline of beef volumes has been driven by steaks which are down 9.7%, with 420,000 fewer shoppers and 2.1m fewer trips this year.

Ward hopes the in-store activity for Valentine’s Day will help turn around this performance.

Chicken continues to drive volume and pull away from red meat volumes, with 390,000 more shoppers and 2 million more trips.