As the lockdown continues across much of the world, the food sector is having to adjust to new buying patterns and volumes quickly. According to figures from AHDB, households have bought £62 worth of extra shopping in March than usual. However, volumes have dropped since the spike in sales around the time of the lockdown announcement here. The spike in sales saw more food bought than over Christmas 2019 and with the closure of pubs, restaurants and cafes means there are 503m more meals to be taken at home.

Shoppers bought 45% more beef mince, 51% more roasts and 20% more steaks. However, in the last two weeks the sale of roasts and steaks has dwindled while mince continues to sell well. Bacon and sausages were up a quarter and a third but there is concern about the ham volumes in the future as it is a key lunchbox staple. Lamb volumes were up 12% during the month, but this was the smallest uplift in sales of the key proteins.

An additional £131m (17%) was spent on dairy products in March 2020 compared with March 2019. Milk saw a growth of 11% in spend and 9.2% in volume. Cheese and spreads were up 25% and 30%.

Fresh potato sales in the latest four-week period have exceeded even the usual peak seen at Christmas. In total, 130,321t was sold in the four weeks to 22 March, an increase of 26.6% compared to the same period last year, adding £17.9m.

Sales figures for the next few weeks will show how buying patterns have settled down. As many people are now on furlough, spending could be restricted. We will all need to prepare for volatility over the next few months.