The International Dairy Deli Association (IDDBA) recently released the third installment of its COVID-19 reports.
This week’s report focuses on the week of April 5th, where food sales continued to show highly elevated levels, with center store food dollars up 29.4 percent over the comparable week in 2019. Boosted by an increase of 41.2 percent in meat, the total perimeter increased 15.8 percent over the week of April 5 compared to the comparable week in 2019. Shoppers expressed both understanding and some frustration with the shortages of dairy items in their stores. It appears disproportionately more of the deli meat dollar is going to pre-packaged meat amid COVID-19 sales.