Frozen beef burger and ready meal sales fall steeply in UK
27 Feb 2013
Sales of frozen beef burger and ready meal have fallen dramatically, the first retail sales data since the horse meat scandal erupted.
According to consumer research and knowledge company, Kantar Worldpanel, in the four weeks ending 17 February, frozen burger sales fell 43 per cent while frozen ready meal sales were down 13 per cent.
While the decline could in part be attributed to consumers rejecting the products, availability had also become an issue with affected lines being progressively withdrawn by retailers.
Horse meat contamination was first revealed on 16 January following analysis conducted by Irish food officials, and the scandal, had since then spread to Europe.
According to a Nielsen consumer survey conducted two weeks ago 96 per cent of UK adults were aware of the horse meat scandal and 74 per cent were concerned about it.
Kantar said, the latest research pointed to a significant change in shopping patterns as a result of the contamination.