Before the pandemic, few Americans prepared lamb and those who did tended to reserve it for special occasions, but shortages of traditional proteins last spring pushed more people to try it for the first time, and now, nearly a year later sales of lamb continue to climb as shoppers overcome negative perceptions and incorporate it into their diets more regularly. According to IRI, growth of lamb sales as measured by a percentage change versus 2019 outpaced all other proteins consistently from May through November of 2020. In addition, lamb had the highest percentage gains at 34% versus the same month the prior year.