Consumer demand for lamb increased considerably during 2020. While all meat sales grew during the year as more meals were eaten at home, lamb sales grew at a larger percentage than total meat sales overall. That’s according to the U.S. Retail Sales report commissioned by the American Lamb Board.

First-quarter sales in 2020 increased by almost 25% from 2019 to 2020, and the pounds of lamb meat sold increased by 17.7% during that same time. Sales of rack of lamb exploded in the third and fourth quarters of 2020. Compared to the previous year, rack sales increased almost 53% in terms of pounds sold. Sales of ground lamb also saw significant growth, increasing by 23.7%.

California has seen the most growth since 2019, thanks to a 30% increase in dollar sales and a 29.6% increase in pounds sold. The Northeast U.S. remains the highest-selling region by a significant margin, accounting for 29% of all lamb sales in the U.S. Lamb retail sales remained strong into the first quarter of 2021. Compared to the first quarter of 2020, dollar sales grew by almost 20%, and volume sales climbed almost 12 percent higher.

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