AHDB: A sizzling summer drives sausage, kebab and halloumi sales
Summer 2025 saw exceptional weather, with below-average rainfall, increased sunshine hours and a three-year-high for average temperatures which peaked in July at 21.3°C.
Despite the favourable climate, 73% of consumers remained concerned about the cost of living (Sparkminds Sentiment Tracker, September 2025). With grocery inflation rising, what impact has this had on demand for meat, fish and poultry, and what opportunities are available for Summer 2026?
A boost for barbecues
Barbecue occasions rose to 73 million in the 16 w/e 7 September 2025, up from 58 million last year (Worldpanel by Numerator UK Usage). Barbecues were more valuable for retailers, with an average spend of £5.04 per barbecue main meal versus £2.64 for an average main meal. Increased adult social barbecues contributed to this, as at-home gatherings offered a cost-effective alternative to eating out and may have helped boost demand for this cooking method.
How are different meats performing?
While barbecues increased, they remain a minority of meat occasions – even for barbecue cuts. For example, only 3 out of every 20 burgers were cooked on a barbecue this summer (Worldpanel by Numerator UK, 16 w/e 7 September 2025).
Over summer, total meat, fish and poultry (MFP) saw positive volume performance of +0.3% (Worldpanel by Numerator UK, 16 w/e 7 September 2025). Within MFP, the proteins performed very differently with growth in cheaper proteins, pork and chicken, outweighing significant volume losses for beef and lamb. Meat-free saw volume declines this summer of -7.4%, through people leaving the category and existing shoppers buying less.
Pork and chicken performed well in both primary and barbecue cuts. Beef and lamb struggled, likely due to higher prices and inflation, which has been particularly notable for beef.
This has also impacted the promotional support for beef. Not only have retailers moved their strategy towards more temporary price reductions (TPR’s) over Y for £X deals over summer 2025, but they have also moved their promotional support to other proteins (Worldpanel by Numerator UK, 16 w/e 7 September 2025).
Another measure some consumers have implemented to save costs is switching from chilled MFP to frozen, however it remains an extremely small part of the market.
What are consumers buying for their barbecues?
Barbecue cuts (defined as processed/added value MFP cuts, excluding primary) have seen growth ahead of total MFP at +0.9% volumes (Worldpanel by Numerator UK, 16 w/e 7 September 2025), driven by increased frequency of purchase. However, its volume growth contribution is only small versus performance for primary chicken and pork.
The two cuts that unsurprisingly dominate the chilled barbecue share are sausages and burgers. While burgers are seen to over perform during the summer, sausages actually perform better the remainder of the year.
Chilled sausages contributed most to barbecue growth, with direct switching from burgers, which saw volume declines of -9.5%. This was driven by beef performance, as alternative options such as pork burgers grew.
Kebabs and ribs saw the fastest growth, up 9.7% and 13.5% respectively. Kebabs gained over 520 tonnes from other cuts, notably 200 tonnes from sausages.
While cuts traditionally associated with beef had seen reduced performance this year, it was chilled beef kebabs which drove overall kebab performance, This indicates that shoppers were looking for different ways to engage with the protein. Despite this, chicken accounts for 39% of chilled barbecue kebab volumes suggesting an opportunity to grow red meat, especially pork which has just a 5% share of volumes.
The influence of promotions will have also impacted this, as temporary price reductions (TPRs) increased for sausages and kebabs but declined for burgers. Consumers traded up to branded and premium chilled barbecue cuts, while the standard tier (57% share) remained stable.
Summer dairy standouts
While much of dairy is focused on being a year-round staple, or sees a Christmas peak, some categories saw improved performance across the summer months.
In summer 2025, both cheese and yogurt continued to demonstrate strong seasonal relevance, with yogurt becoming even more summer-focused and both categories outperforming the average for dairy in terms of summer volume share (NIQ Homescan, 16 w/e 30 August 2025).
Yogurt was the standout performer, achieving strong volume growth (+7.3% year-on-year), enticing new shoppers as well as increasing volumes purchased for current shoppers despite increasing prices (NIQ Homescan, 16 w/e 30 August 2025).
Premium own label yogurt led this growth, with a notable rise in customers. Shoppers were seen to seek greater variety, adding more types of yogurt to their baskets, and shifting from branded to premium own label options, reflecting a desire for indulgence and everyday luxury (NIQ Homescan, 16 w/e 30 August 2025). This aligns with the growing popularity of “treat for today” shopping missions.
Cheese also saw growth, albeit more modest (+1.1% volume change), with premium own label cheese again the fastest-growing tier for the second consecutive summer. While standard own label cheese remains the largest contributor to growth, there is a clear shift towards premium own label options, often at the expense of branded cheese.
Cheese can have its place alongside MFP at the barbecue occasions as halloumi and feta both saw strong growth year-on-year. Wider trends were seen to influence summer purchases too, with cottage cheese seeing exceptional growth, fuelled by social media trends and its appeal as a versatile, high-protein option.
Recommendations for summer 2026
While there were areas of positive growth this summer, there are ways to boost sales further:
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