The stay-at-home orders implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the U.S. meat and poultry industries as consumers shifted from purchasing food away from home (FAFH) to food at home (FAH).
In the weeks before the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 to be a global pandemic, the volume of meat sold in grocery stores fluctuated modestly between 3% below and 8% above 2019 sales. When WHO declared a global pandemic on March 11, 2020, the quantity of meat sold at grocery stores increased sharply to 75% above that week’s 2019 sales volume. Meat sales reached their pandemic peak the following week, at 84% above 2019 sales.
This increase in retail meat sales was consistent with overall consumer patterns in March-April 2020, when restaurant closures led to a surge in FAH sales relative to 2019 as FAFH sales fell. After the peak, weekly meat purchases slowed but remained roughly 30-40% above 2019 sales for most weeks until mid-May.
Sales may have slowed partly because consumers had stocked up on meat supplies in the previous weeks and because FAFH expenditures rose as COVID-related restrictions were lifted. For the remainder of 2020, total weekly sales of meat at retail remained higher than weekly 2019 sales for most weeks. — USDA Economic Research Service
