Autumn kicks in as sales of soup and hot chocolate surge
Grocery price inflation increased slightly, to 2.0% during the four weeks to 29th September, the latest Kantar figures show.
This is up from 1.7% last month. Take-home sales at the grocers grew by 2.0% over the same period.
Poor September weather had shoppers reaching for cosy comforts, with sales of hot chocolate surging by 28%, while Halloween was starting early for others, with almost £1 million of pumpkins sold in September – nearly double last year.
Kantar’s findings, which come ahead of the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget, show that spending on promoted items continued to rise, climbing by 7.4% in September, as households sought to manage finances. By comparison, full price sales nudged up by 0.3%.
Despite the annual rate of grocery inflation growing, the contest between the grocers to attract shoppers through their doors has seen prices roll back on some essentials.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insights at Kantar said that in the fiercely competitive retail sector, the battle for value is on.
“Supermarkets are doing what they can to keep costs down for consumers and thanks to their efforts, the prices in some categories are falling,” said Fraser McKevitt.
‘The unusually wet weather this September had the nation rushing for those classic warming staples’
“The average price paid for toilet and kitchen roll is 6% lower year-on-year for example, while dog and car food are 4% and 3% cheaper respectively.”
Spending is still stretched, Fraser McKevitt added, with people having to make decisions about what they can afford, with more consumers reporting that they are struggling to balance environmental concerns with their own financial worries – 59% of Britons now say they’re finding it harder to act sustainably, up from 44% last year.
Meanwhile, much of the UK saw record monthly rainfall last month, which also impacted how people shop.
“The unusually wet weather this September had the nation rushing for those classic warming staples. Hot chocolate sales surged by 28%, soup by 10% and home baking by 7% as people looked to stave off the autumn blues,” said Fraser McKevitt.
Sugar confectionery has also seen a 9% lift, and spending is expected to ramp up further this month as trick or treating approaches – confectionery sales were 16% higher in the second half of October last year.
Kantar’s supermarket share figures reveal that Tesco achieved its largest share since December 2017, now taking 28.0% of the market, up from 27.4% a year ago. Sainsbury’s sales increased by 5.1%, while Asda’s hold of the market is now 12.6%.
Spending through Lidl’s tills climbed by 8.8%, with the discounter adding 0.5 percentage points to its share of the market – bringing it to 8.1%.
