Sales of fresh produce, white fish and chicken stimulated a rise in UK grocery sales-values in the first month of 2016, in spite of price reductions, as ‘Dry January’ encouraged people to purchase healthier foods, TheGuardian.com reports.
Grocery sales-values were up by 0.2 per cent during the twelve weeks to January 31, though a 0.2-per-cent fall was experienced over the 12 weeks to January 3. Considering the like-for-like fall in sales over Christmas, this indicates a very robust January for the UK's food sector.
That a sales-value rise occurred in spite of relatively deep price-cuts suggests supermarkets shifted high volumes of food over the period.
Kantar said, "Consumers are clearly striving for a healthier start to the year and have turned to fresh foods."
Fresh produce sales in UK supermarkets were up by five per cent, while the figures for fish and poultry were almost as high.
While Lidl and Aldi improved their fresh produce margins most substantially, the Co-op was the retailer that boosted sales most overall (1.4 per cent).
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Peter Donnelly. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
