Operator
Good morning. My name is Dexter, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. Second Quarter Fiscal 2021 Operating Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]
Mr. Mike Valentine, Chief Financial Officer, will begin your conference. Please go ahead, sir.
Michael J. Valentine --
Chief Financial Officer, Group President and Secretary
Thank you, Dexter. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our 2021 second quarter earnings conference call. Thank you for joining us today. On the call with me today is Jeffrey Sanfilippo, our CEO; and Jasper Sanfilippo, our COO. Before we start, we want to remind you that we may make some forward-looking statements today. These statements are based on our current expectations and involve certain risks and uncertainties that are inherent in our business. The factors that could negatively impact results are explained in the various SEC filings that we have made, including forms 10-K and 10-Q. We encourage you to refer to these filings to learn more about these risks and uncertainties that are inherent in our business. Starting with the top line. Net sales for the second quarter of fiscal '21 decreased 5.2% to $233.6 million in comparison to net sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2020 of $246.4 million. The decline in net sales was primarily due to lower selling prices for tree nuts, which in turn resulted from lower commodity acquisition costs. The decline in net sales from lower selling prices was offset in part by a 1.8% increase in sales volume, which we define as pounds sold to customers. Sales volume increased 9.9% in our consumer distribution channel, and that was mainly due to a 13.3% increase in sales volume for private brand peanuts, trail mixes and snack mixes. Current economic conditions have resulted in a shift in consumer preferences to lower-priced private label products and lower-priced products that we make. Increased sales for Fisher snack nuts also contributed to the sales volume increase in the consumer distribution channel.