Rising grocery costs fail to dampen wine gross sales throughout Olympics

Grocery worth inflation has risen for the primary time in additional than a yr – however this didn’t cease customers forking out on booze to rejoice a summer time of sport, new figures recommend.

Wine gross sales had been up 35% on the day of the Olympic opening ceremony and £10m value of beer was bought on the day of the Euro soccer remaining, in keeping with market analysis agency Kantar.

That got here regardless of a 1.8% rise in grocery worth inflation within the 4 weeks to August, 0.2% increased than the prior 4 weeks.

The price of grocery store worth rises had beforehand fallen for 17 months in a row, in keeping with Kantar.

It is getting barely “easier to go shopping at the supermarket than this time last year”, Fraser McKevitt, Kantar’s head of retail and shopper perception advised the Daily News.

“We’ve moved well away from those days of double digit grocery price inflation,” he stated, however stated customers ought to store round to get the very best worth for cash.

Kantar information urged merchandise which noticed the quickest worth rises included vitamin and mineral dietary supplements, fruit juices and chocolate. Meanwhile bathroom tissues, bottled cola and pet food noticed the slowest worth rises.

It added that the return to raised climate meant barbecue meals gross sales had been boosted within the weeks to August.

Supermarkets are locked in a fierce competitors for patrons, evidenced by plenty of promotions and reductions being supplied in the mean time, Mr McKevitt added.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) warned that additional inflation might be anticipated as local weather change damages harvests after unusually moist climate in England.

Extreme warmth in different elements of the world has additionally destroyed crops which has lowered provide, pushing costs up.

Combined with rising geopolitical tensions, additional inflationary pressures might be “lurking just over the horizon,” stated Helen Dickinson of the BRC.

Overall inflation within the UK held on the Bank of England’s goal price of two% in June, though economists count on July’s information to point out an increase when it’s launched on Wednesday. This is partly as a result of vitality costs aren’t anticipated to have dropped as sharply this yr in comparison with falls in 2023.

The Bank of England key rate of interest was this month lowered to five% from 5.25%, marking the primary lower for the reason that begin of the pandemic in March 2020. It had been elevating the rate of interest in a bid to chill inflation, which had been operating at document ranges in recent times.

Kantar’s newest information additionally confirmed amongst Britain’s best-known supermarkets, Asda was quickly shedding its grip on market share.

Its share of the groceries market was down 1.1% in contrast with final yr, whereas rivals equivalent to Sainsbury’s recorded its largest year-on-year achieve since July 1997.