August was "a very tough month" for grocery unit sales. The month saw widespread volume declines across the store, according to Circana data prepared by 210 Analytics.

The volume losses were particularly pronounced in fresh foods. Meat, produce and bakery all posted unit sales declines during the month, the data shows.

For grocery retailers and the marketers who supply them, the August numbers signal that shoppers continued to pull back on volume even as they kept filling their carts. Fresh departments — often the traffic drivers for grocery trips — sat at the center of the weakness, with meat, produce and bakery all seeing unit sales fall.

The findings come from Circana, the market research firm, with analysis prepared by 210 Analytics, a firm that regularly tracks grocery performance metrics for the industry. Their assessment of August described a month in which unit sales struggled broadly rather than in isolated categories.

"A very tough month" is how the analysis characterized the period for grocery unit sales, according to the report. The decline was widespread, meaning it reached across multiple departments rather than hitting only a handful of categories.

Fresh foods drew particular attention in the data. Meat, produce and bakery — three core fresh departments — each recorded volume declines in August. That pattern matters for retailers because fresh departments typically anchor store trips and influence spending across the rest of the store.

The August results add to a stretch of pressure on grocery volume. Unit sales have been a watchpoint for the industry as shoppers adjust purchasing behavior in response to cumulative price increases over recent years. When unit sales fall broadly, as they did in August, both retailers and consumer brands feel the impact through slower inventory turnover and softer demand.

For marketers targeting grocery shoppers, the data points to a specific challenge: volume declines concentrated in fresh foods suggest shoppers are moderating purchases of perishable items, where waste risk and price sensitivity intersect. Meat, produce and bakery declines in the same month indicate the pullback was not confined to a single fresh category.

The widespread nature of the August declines — across the store and especially in fresh — means the pressure on unit sales was structural for the month rather than category-specific. Retailers will be watching whether the pattern eases heading into the fall, and whether fresh departments recover the volume they lost in August.