Sales of Spam rise as consumers trim spending

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Source: MSNBC

MILWAUKEE - Love it, hate it or laugh at it — at least it's inexpensive.

Sales of Spam — that much maligned meat — are rising as consumers are turning more to lunch meats and other lower-cost foods to extend their already stretched food budgets.

What was once cheeky, silly and the subject of a Monty Python musical, Spam is now back on the table as people turn to the once-snubbed canned meat as costs rise, analysts say.

The price of Spam is up too, with the average 12-ounce can costing about $2.62. That's an increase of 17 cents, or nearly 7 percent, from the same time last year. But it's not stopping sales, as the pork meat in a can seems like a good alternative to consumers.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24861341/

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Cans of Spam line the shelves at a store in Berlin, Vermont. Sales of Spam are rising as consumers turning more to lunch meats and other lower-cost foods as a way of stretching they're already stretched food budgets.