In order to conserve money, Britons are buying less meat, fish, and poultry as the cost of living rises.

According to market research firm NielsenIQ, volume sales of meat, fish, and poultry fell 13% year over year in the four weeks leading up to April 23, which included the Easter holiday, and fell 7.8% year over year on a value basis, indicating that UK shoppers are limiting their purchases in this category.

Rising costs are putting a strain on UK household earnings for the first time since the 1950s, and consumer confidence is at historic lows.

Official figures released last week revealed that nearly a quarter of Britons are struggling to pay their household bills, and the CEO of the country’s second largest grocery chain, Sainsbury’s, claimed shoppers are now “monitoring every penny.”

Britons who are short on cash are looking for ways to save. They’re buying more supermarket own-brand products, cutting back on subscription streaming services like Netflix, and cancelling home appliance maintenance warranties.

In addition, NielsenIQ’s data revealed a 15.9 per cent drop in beer, wine, and spirit sales on a value basis for the four-week period compared to the same period last year.

“It is clear that as cost-of-living increases continue, retailers will be under pressure to ensure they have consumer mindsets front of mind, which are set to focus more on economising on the number of items purchased,” Mike Watkins, NielsenIQ’s UK head of retailer and business insight said.

Total sales at UK supermarkets declined 1.8 percent in value over the four weeks compared to the same period last year, according to NielsenIQ, with a slight decrease in the average number of goods in the basket – 11.2 versus 11.5.

Nielsen claimed German-owned discounters Aldi and Lidl lead the market in terms of sales growth on a value basis, increasing 6.4 per cent and 9.1 per cent, respectively, citing data from rival market researcher Kantar last week. find out more

Tesco, the market leader, was the only one of Britain’s main four supermarkets to gain market share in terms of value.

(Adapted from TheGuardian.com)

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