Would You Buy Meat From a Dollar Store? These Shoppers Are
Business + Economy

Would You Buy Meat From a Dollar Store? These Shoppers Are

© Lane Hickenbottom / Reuters

Cheap detergent, party supplies and home décor seem like dollar store staples. But meat?

Increasingly so for some consumers. Dollar stores saw the largest growth in occasional meat sales among alternative sources, beating out farmers’ markets, online stores and directly from farms, according to a survey this year from the Food Marketing Institute and the North American Meat Institute.

In 2015, only 3 percent of customers had visited dollar stores for a meat or poultry purchase in the previous three months. That figure more than doubled to 7 percent this year.

The Power of Meat
Source: The Power of Meat 2016

The most frequent buyers of dollar store meat were households earning less than $35,000, households with four or more people, and — maybe surprisingly — Millennials.

Related: The Best and Worst Fast Food Restaurants of 2016

In May, Dollar General noted that Millennials, especially women, were increasingly shopping at their stores, representing 12 percent of all its customers and 24 percent of its sales.

“On average, she is shopping our stores about three times a month,” said Todd Vasos, CEO of Dollar General, in company’s latest earnings call. “One of her money-saving strategies is to utilize technology like our Dollar General digital coupon app to make lists, find deals, and save money.”

Vasos also noted that the Millennial shopper in general wants healthy food items and is willing to try new food items. As a response, the company launched its Heartland Harvest private brand in the first quarter, has expanded its grocery offerings in coolers and is testing selling fresh fruits and vegetables, Vasos said.

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