No Food for Christmas?
We just took a look at German retail revenues for December 2022. Generally, they were down a striking 6,6% vs 2021 in real terms meaning adjusted for inflation. Even more striking is the weakness of the food category with fish and meat being down 22% and 19% YoY respectively.
This could be because Germans suddenly turned vegetarians. But then you have fruit spending also heavily down running against this thesis. It is more likely that lifted COVID-19 restrictions led to a change in food buying habits:
– More eating out than at in
– More eating on holidays than at home
Some general cutbacks in anticipation of exploding energy bills might have also plaid a role.
If you can think of other reasons, we would love to hear them!
