The most recent Kantar data for supermarket beef sales in Britain shows a drop in the volume of beef bought by consumers in the 12 weeks up to the end of June 2022. The rolling 12-month figure is also down compared with June 2021.

Both the quarterly and yearly figures show an overall decline of beef purchased by 10.5%. The biggest fall has been in roast beef sales, down almost 23%, followed by steak sales which are down over 19% in the year to 12 June while mince beef sales are down 6%.

This period includes Easter and an extended bank holiday weekend to mark the Queen’s jubilee as well as major sporting events operating without COVID-19 restrictions.

There is a view in Britain that rising living costs, particularly in fuel and energy, are now influencing consumer choices.

The most recent beef sales data shows a 2.8% decline on the same period in 2019, which was pre-pandemic.