UK supermarket sales have fallen in recent weeks, while grocery inflation accelerated to the highest level since May 2009, according to new data from Kantar.
The figures reveal that UK grocery sales fell by 4.4% to £29.91bn in the 12 weeks to 15 May. However, the sales decline eased in the closing weeks of the survey.
Kantar said: “Sales declined more softly over the past month and dipped by just 1.7%, the market’s best performance since Christmas as the nation looks ahead to the Platinum Jubilee weekend.
“Despite the squeeze on budgets, the Platinum Jubilee is expected to bring with it bumper supermarket sales. Alcohol, soft drinks, barbecue foods, and desserts are all predicted to be particularly popular over the long weekend.”
Kantar noted that the Diamond Jubilee in 2012 saw a 10% boost in supermarket sales during the week leading up to the festivities.
The figures also highlighted the soaring inflation UK consumers are facing. For the full 12 weeks, grocery inflation stood at 5.7%, accelerating from 4.8% in the 12 weeks to 17 April.
During the past four weeks alone, grocery inflation raced to 7.0%, the highest level since May 2009.
Kantar analyst Fraser McKevitt said: “People are really feeling the squeeze at the supermarket tills and they’re having to stretch their budgets further to accommodate rising prices. To put the most recent numbers into context, if you were picking up supplies for a family fry-up over the long weekend with toast, eggs, sausages, bacon and beans, it would cost you £6.83 – that’s a significant 40p increase on last year.”
The data also shows discounters Aldi and Lidl were the fastest-growing grocers over the 12 weeks with sales up 5.8% and 6.0%, respectively, giving a record combined market share of 15.9%.
