Sales of mince and stewing beef have increased here by 8% in the last year, according to Bord Bia.
The increase in lower priced cuts reflects changes in food purchasing patterns with consumers continuing to tighten their belts.
Sales of chicken legs and wings were 18% higher in the past year.
Bord Bia quotes data from TNS Worldpanel, which shows that Irish shoppers spent €1,243 million on meat for the year to the end of January. That represents an increase of over 3%, mainly due to price increases.
Consumers are shopping more across multiples, spending less per trip and buying more products on promotion. As shoppers continue to trade down across food categories, the budget price band of products are showing the greatest growth.
Sectors showing the most growth, in value terms, are beef, sausages and pork according to TNS. In addition to underlying price increases, sales of beef increased by 6% to €464 million as more households purchased.
The same is true of sausages with sales rising by 9% to €85 million - equivalent to 5% increase in volume sales. At the same time, more regular purchasing of pork has contributed to sales increases of 6% up to €142 million.
