Sausage products remain a robust option for meat-eating consumers in the United States as shoppers seek out and explore new food trends for 2025.

Especially among small processors around the country, innovative flavors and concepts continue to evolve. However, national trends remain intact and are closely watched by large portions of the meat space.

New data from Chicago-based market research firm Circana OmniMarket Integrated Fresh said sales from the latest 52 weeks ending Dec. 1, 2024, reflected today’s diverse consumer purchasing habits.

Erkin Peksoz, principal at Circana, assessed the sausage category and said easing inflationary pressure in 2024 was a core driver of performance.

Peksoz said younger consumers were purchasing more cooked dinner sausage and breakfast sausage with sales volume increasing for the past 52 weeks ending Jan. 15, 2025.

He added in the cooked dinner sausage category, Gen Z looks for hot-flavored items, especially over-indexing in chorizo and “hot.”

The breakfast sausage category, according to Circana, showed $2.39 billion in sales, up 2.9% from the same period in 2023. Price per volume was $4.74 per 16 oz, up 1 % from the previous year.

Dinner sausage came in at $5.66 billion, which is a 2.9% increase from a year ago. Price per volume came in at $4.47 per 16 oz, which is down 0.5%.

Sausage category trends

Anne-Marie Roerink, principal of 210 Analytics, provided updated insights on the sausage and hot dog categories and how retailers continue to open up space on store shelves for new sausage and hot dog products.

“While the nation’s large sausage brands easily cement the majority of sales, some retailers have introduced small-batch, handcrafted sausages that focus on local ingredients or partnerships with local breweries, etc.,” Roerink said. “While beer brats are nothing new, the partnership with craft beers is a growing trend. Some sausages are even crafted with specific beers to enhance flavor profiles.”

A variety of flavors continue to grow across several sectors including Mexican chorizo, Italian-style sausages and Spanish-style chistorra that has gained popularity. Roerink added that hot dogs use kimchi, curry or Mediterranean spices for some products. In the plant-basesd meat alternatives category, Roerink and others noted that after early success in 2021, there have been reports of double-digit sales declines for three consecutive years for many plant-based foods companies.

“Blended sausages seem to fare a little better. For instance, dinner sausage with added broccoli, spinach or other vegetables,” Roerink noted. “But the best performance in the better-for-you segment has been the use of chicken, turkey, or even bison, which helps provide a range of options for consumers looking for something a bit leaner or simply not eating pork or beef.”

Another trend noted was the growing demand for convenience as manufacturers and businesses introduce ready-to-eat sausages or snack sausages like mini sausage links or bite-sized breakfast options.

“This starts to cross over into the meat snack category that has been on fire for many, many years,” Roerink said.

Read more about the hot dog and sausage report here.