NR ASAF
AU anonym
TI Latest Figures Suggest Mixed Messages on BSE
QU UK beef market report from A.C.Nielsen company
IA http://www.nielsen.com/home/press/uk/beef2.htm
VT
Oxford, 11th January 1996 - New research today from Nielsen's Homescan panel, shows that the beef market enjoyed its usual seasonal uplift in the run up to Christmas but sales relative to last year were down. Spending in the final two weeks before Christmas was down over 20% on last year whilst pork enjoyed an annual increase in sales of 17% in Christmas week.
In the run up to Christmas, over one million households stopped buying beef in the week ending 16 December relative to last year. Whilst this position improved in Christmas week itself (week ending 23/12.95), over 840 thousands households were still not purchasing the beef.
In spending terms, beef producers have reason to be concerned. Since the beginning of November there has been a steady decline in beef buying: weekly annual comparisons show that for the week ending 23 December, sales were down over 21% on the same time last year and this is the lowest figure since this BSE scare began.
In terms of household consumption, there is also worrying news. Of those households still buying beef in Christmas week, their average spend was lower than last year. This is the first time that this has happened since national headlines warned consumers of the dangers of BSE. This would suggest that those shying away from beef over this week could be termed heavy beef consumers and the implications of their confidence being dented would be very significant to the beef industry.
There is some good news for beef burger products. In the first two weeks of December sales were seriously affected with spending down by a fifth and this figure fell sharply the following week to almost 50% down on an annual basis. However, latest figures for Christmas week suggest that beef burger spending has recovered and is now only marginally down on last year. It will be interesting to see if this recovery is sustained over the longer term. Certainly the level of beef promotions and the consumer appeal of such convenience products over the festive period could be significant drivers in this uplift.
There is some comfort for the industry from these latest figures but it is clear that the nation still needs to be reassured about their concerns about BSE. The implications of heavy beef consumers shying away is alarming and it has yet to be seen if this is a long-term trend.
Nielsen is the global authority in providing marketing and decision support solutions. As a strategic partner with the world's top companies, Nielsen has been the primary supplier of information-based systems and analysis for over 70 years and now has coverage in 88 countries worldwide.
In the UK, Nielsen's services span continuous marketing information, advertising expenditure measurement, category management, media research, decision and solution systems, market modelling and analytics, and merchandising. Nielsen is a company of the Dun & Bradstreet Corporation.
Press contact:
Paula O'Meara / Fiona Holdsworth
Nielsen
01865 742742
Copyright 1995 A. C. Nielsen Company, a division of the Dun & Bradstreet Corporation Please send all comments to mailto:webmaster@nielsen.com">webmaster@nielsen.com - Mike Ellsworth 1/11/96
AD Nielsen's Homescan panel: http://www.nielsen.com/home/countries/uk/uksrvcs.htm#homescan
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OR Prion-Krankheiten 9