Wine and burger sales increase despite grocery price inflation rise
Grocery price inflation rose for the first time in over a year, rising to 1.8%, marking the first increase since March 2023.
According to the latest figures from Kantar, August saw inflation nudge up again slightly, having reached its lowest rate in almost three years in July.
This did not stop people celebrating the summer of sport, with wine sales up 35%, nuts increasing 60% and crisps by 10% on the Friday of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. There were sales increases also with burgers up 32% compared to the same time last year; chilled prepared salads rose by 22% and ice cream by 23%.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said it is a mixed picture on supermarket shelves, with prices rising across 182 product categories, as the costs in 89 others fall. Notably, kitchen towels and baked beans are now 7% and 5% cheaper respectively than they were last year.
“With this kind of pricing spread, shoppers will find that the type of product they’re putting in their baskets will really dictate how much they pay,” said Fraser McKevitt.
“They’re continuing to take advantage of the wide range of promotions being offered by the grocers to help keep the price of shopping down. Spending on deals rose by 15%, while sales of products at their usual price saw no increase.”
Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s market share rose by 0.5 percentage points over the 12 weeks to 4th August, compared to the same period last year, marking its largest year-on-year share gain since July 1997. It was again the fastest growing of the traditional supermarkets, with sales increasing by 5.2%.
Tesco has maintained its streak of winning share every month since August 2023, its hold of the market climbing by 0.6 percentage points to 27.6%, while its sales jumped by 4.9%.
Asda now takes 12.6% share, while Lidl saw sales grow, buoyed by a 7.8% boost in sales, Lidl won an extra 0.4 percentage points of the market, taking its share to 8.1%.
