Less ham on menu as cost of living crimps Christmas feasts: Primo Foods
Ham is the centrepiece of the Christmas dinner table, but the high cost of living is leading to families cutting back this season, according to Primo Foods.
The rising cost of living is leading consumers to cut back on buying large legs of ham for Christmas and opt for half a leg instead, according to Primo Foods.
The company’s chief operating officer, Jamie Eastley, said consumers had been searching for value in the lead-up to Christmas, with small goods sales at discount supermarket chain Aldi particularly strong, while sales had also held up at its rivals, as consumers spent less time dining out and more time gathering at home.
“We have seen in some of the data that Aldi is performing really well year on year as consumers are looking for value,” Mr Eastley said. “But Coles, Woolworths and independents are very strong this time of year.
“People are not necessarily going out as they used to. They are looking at high quality, which still represents value, while doing that at home.”
The JBS-owned Primo Foods, the largest smallgoods company in Australia, begins preparing legs of ham to sell at Christmas a year in advance and, despite consumers being more cost conscious, Mr Eastley said the meat was still the centrepiece of the Christmas table.
The tradition of eating ham at Christmas has evolved from pre-Christian European tradition, where in Germany pagan rituals required the sacrifice of a wild boar to one of the gods during harvest festivals. In the Christian era, it remains a strong tradition in Western nations, including the US, Britain, European nations and Australia and New Zealand.
In Australia, two thirds of families will have ham on their table at Christmas, half will have poultry – either turkey or chicken – and more than half will have seafood. “For ourselves, ham will be the centrepiece, but we will have chicken, prawns and also have some salmon served up,” Mr Eastley said.
He said Primo estimated 8000 tonnes, or 8 million kilograms, of Christmas ham would be consumed this year.
“A decade ago, everyone bought a large full leg of Christmas ham, whereas today we are seeing consumers buying a half leg, or quarter or even a small portion to still have ham as the hero of the Christmas table,” he said.
“Australians love coming together and are quite social. The entertaining is really strong for Australia from December to January and Australians celebrate around food.”
Mr Eastley said 48 per cent of Australians had one parent born overseas, according to the latest census data, which meant that demand for pork was strong.
But the level of pork production in Australia meant that the country could not keep up with demand.
Of the 500,000 tonnes of pork consumed annually, less than 300,000 was produced in Australia, with the shortfall coming from the US and Europe, where that meat was largely used for salamis.
Any fresh ham was from the Australian market.
Despite the challenges around supply, Mr Eastley said supermarkets were holding the entry price at $8 a kilogram.
“Australia is the fifth-largest meat consumer globally,” Mr Eastley said, adding that demand was also strong for poultry and seafood, but demand for beef had held steady.
During the year, ham sold in supermarkets for lunches had performed well, as had other meats such as prosciutto.