In its latest grocery market share figures for the 12 weeks ending 24 February 2019, it also found that 26% of consumers were considering stockpiling food. However, this has yet to transfer into supermarket sales, which only grew 1.3% – the same growth experienced in the last quarter.
“It’s worth noting that hard-to-stockpile fresh and chilled foods made up 39% of the value of the average British shopping basket,” said Kantar head of retail and consumer insight Fraser McKevitt.
Aldi was the only retailer to report double-digit growth during the past 12 weeks, increasing sales by 10%, capitalising on Valentine’s Day-related purchases.
Discounter stigma
“In the past there may have been a bit of a stigma about treating your loved one from a discounter – that just isn’t the case any more,” McKevitt added.
“Planning for the perfect date night, 10% of the population bought chocolate, wine, steak, shellfish or a chilled dessert from Aldi during the week of Valentine’s Day, helping it increase market share by 0.6 percentage points to 7.6%.”
Meanwhile, output in the manufacturing sector, including food and drink businesses, plunged to its lowest level in 15 months, despite manufacturers ramping up preparations in anticipation of the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal – including reports of stockpiling by major players such as Greencore, Mondelēz and Nestlé.
