Sunny spring boosts grocers as Brits buy 2,400 packs of strawberries every minute
The UK's unusual burst of sun boosted purchases of fruit and ice lollies this spring, although food inflation continued to soar at the UK's grocers.
Higher prices for fresh meats, chocolate and butters drove food inflation to 4.7 per cent, its highest level since March 2024, according to data insights group Kantar.
But Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said that 'higher prices didn't stop shoppers [this spring]… as the sun tempted more people out, fresh fruit sales were one of the biggest winners.'
Brits made 490m trips to the shop in the four weeks to July 15, the highest recorded level since pandemic buying cleared out shops in March 2020.
Consumers bought 2,400 packs of strawberries every minute during the month, while sales of mangoes and blueberries rose 27 per cent and 10 per cent each.
However, a rise in the frequency of trips to the grocers was balanced out by a lower trip spend, which dropped to £23.89.
'Consumer concerns over price are continuing, and this is reflected in the figures. Sales of own label ranges grew ahead of branded lines, as shoppers looked to balance their budgets.
'Deals also remain an important tool for retailers to offer value and the proportion of spending on promotion stepped up to 28.8 per cent,' McKevitt said.
Sales at the UK's biggest supermarket, Tesco, grew five per cent year on year. Its share of the market now stands at 28.1 per cent, up from 27.6 per cent this time last year.
Meanwhile, Asda sales continued to falter as the struggling grocer attempts to turn itself around after a tough year of customer dissatisfaction.
Sales fell 1.7 per cent year on year, with its share of the overall market down from 12.7 per cent to 11.9 per cent.
Aldi is hot on its heels, with the discounter just one per cent below Asda in terms of market share.
Aside from Asda, the Co-op was the only other supermarket to shrink over the year, by 0.7 per cent.
Waitress, Iceland and Ocado, which each hold less than five per cent of the market, continued to grow year on year.
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