A late Easter this year is causing March processed meat sales to fall by 9%

The late timing of Easter this year is having an impact on meat sales.

Easter is considered the third-biggest meat holiday behind Christmas and Thanksgiving. The holiday is three weeks later than last year, which is impacting year-over-year data.

While dollar sales grew due to inflation, pounds purchased dropped by more than 4%. That was driven by processed meat declines, which include smoked ham.

While March was negatively impacted by the holiday’s late timing, April sales are expected to receive a boost.

Related Stories
Agriculture Secretary nominee Brooke Rollins has been in the hot seat before the Senate Ag Committee all morning.
“Rules are never perfect, and we’re always updating them.”
“People are having to have their accountants kind of guess on which direction this is going to go.”