Bacon finally losing its sizzle as sales of rashers PLUNGE by more than £1m a week last year – with vegetarianism believed to be behind the slump

• Supermarket sales dropped £56.8million in the last year to July, a report reveals
• Sales fell 4.7 per cent to £1.2billion. Own-label bacon sales were down 6 per cent
• Partly driven by health reports warning processed meat carries a cancer risk

It’s been a staple of the traditional British breakfast for decades.

But it seems bacon is finally losing its sizzle – as sales of rashers plunged by more than £1million a week last year.

Concerns over cancer links and the rise of vegetarianism are believed to be behind the slump, with a report revealing supermarket sales dropped £56.8million in the last year to July.

Sales of rashers plunged by more than £1million a week last year. In total, sales dropped £56.8million in the last year to July

Figures from analysts Kantar show total sales fell 4.7 per cent to £1.2billion, while own-label bacon fared particularly badly with sales down 6 per cent. 

The slump was partly driven by health reports warning processed meat carries a cancer risk, said Matt Southam of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board.

These include a study published by the WHO in 2015 which made a direct link between consumption of processed meats and bowel cancer. But The Grocer magazine reported that branded bacon is bucking the trend, with sales rising 18.3 per cent last year.

Figures from analysts Kantar show total sales fell 4.7 per cent to £1.2billion, while own-label bacon fared particularly badly with sales down 6 per cent

It said this was due to ‘health-driven’ innovations such as Finnebrogue’s Naked Bacon, which does not contain nitrates – the compounds identified by the WHO as potentially linked to cancer.

However, The Grocer said that consumer perceptions could be set to change again after a new study published this week suggested the link between meat and cancer had been overstated.

Reducing meat intake brought few if any health benefits, according to a panel of researchers led by Dalhousie University and McMaster University in Canada. Diets lower in processed and red meat had ‘little or no effect on the risk for major cardiometabolic outcomes and cancer mortality and incidence’ they said.

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