US-Market Hot Dog sales jump to highest gains since early April

The week ending April 26 marked the eighth week of multi-digit year-over-year sales gains for hot dogs. Dollar sales increased 42% and volume sales increased 25% over the week of April 26 versus the comparable week in 2019, according to IRI. This is the largest gap between volume and dollar sales since the onset of coronavirus in the US. National brands make up 97% of total hot dog sales and grew dollar sales 42%.

Beef hot dogs represented nearly 63% of total hot dog sales and grew the most, at +52%. The prolonged duration of the double- and triple-digit increases, particularly during Easter week, and going up against Easter 2019 sales, points to a much higher everyday demand following the initial stock-up purchases.

The surge in sales numbers shows shoppers are in the market for all pack sizes, large and small. The most common pack size is eight hot dogs, representing 51% of all sales, which explains the somewhat lower growth rate. Larger pack sizes of 10 and 24 counts have been doing very well these past few weeks, once more pointing to an increased everyday demand.