Pilgrim’s UK is expecting a surge in demand for its meat snacking products over the King’s coronation weekend.
The supplier this week said its Ruskington snacking site, which supplies the mults and foodservice businesses, was producing and supplying around 2.5 million scotch eggs, over 20 million cocktail sausages and more than 21 million mini scotch egg bites.
This is a 15% increase on its average weekly output volumes.
The forecast comes after volume sales of snacking products soared by 20% during the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee last year, with scotch eggs in particular seeing bumper sales – up 20%.
“We love to come to come together to celebrate a special occasion in Britain and food is always at the heart of this,” said Kelly Eastwood, insight director at Pilgrim’s UK.
“The King’s coronation will be no exception and we’re increasing production to help our retail partners meet the soaring demand expected for snacking products ahead of this momentous occasion.”
Eastwood added the coronation would be “just the start for snacking”, with the summer months set to drive a further uplift in sales, with an almost 22% increase compared to the winter months.
“This is a good time for retailers to test our how they can make their snacking lines work harder, utilising promotions, in-store POS, and cross-merchandising to drive sales,” she suggested.
It comes as AHDB this week echoed Pilgrim’s predictions, with dairy and red meat products expected to enjoy a bumper weekend.
Like Pilgrim’s, it cited the previous experience of the Platinum Jubilee as a pointer for this weekend’s performance, with burger sales up 50%, leading to an extra 853,000kg being bought across the UK during the week of the event last summer [Kantar, w/e 5 June 22 vs average 51 w/e 29 May 22].
Sausage rolls were also a firm favourite, with volumes up 30%, followed by a 28% rise in pork pie purchases and a 9% increase in sausages sold.
The dairy sector was also delivered a boost during the Jubilee, with an additional 724,000 litres of fresh cream sold, a rise of 33% compared to an average week in 2022, AHDB said. Cheese also saw a lift, with an extra 228,000 kg bought – up 2%.
“Brits love a party, so even adhoc events such as the King’s coronation provides an excellent opportunity to boost sales of both red meat and dairy,” said AHDB senior retail insight manager Kim Heath.
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