We are all comfort eating our way through choc-down
PEOPLE are comfort-eating more chocolate while they have been stuck at home under l ockdowntype restrictions. Early sales of Christmas treats have slumped this year – but people are indulging in chocolate i nstead of seasonal biscuits and sweets, research has found. Emer Healy, a retail analyst at Kantar, said: ‘There is a lot of uncertainty around what Christmas will look like this year and, as a result, people’s behaviour is very different from what we would normally expect.’ Sales of tubs and tins of sweets are down €1.8million – that’s about 300,000 fewer tubs than a year ago. Ms Healy added: ‘In the latest three months, consumers spent less on tubs and tins than this time last year, but that’s not to say we have lost our sweet tooth. ‘The trend of seeking out little luxuries while we’re all spending more time at home has continued. Nine in ten Irish households purchased chocolate almost every week over the past three months.’ The HSE’s chief obesity expert, Professor Donal O’Shea, said comfort-eating was ‘to be expected’ during lockdowns. ‘People should be aware that healthy habits are harder to maintain during times of stress and it’s almost to be expected,’ he said.
He described the slack early sales of Christmas sweets as ‘encouraging’, but said ‘the national trend of turning to what is many people’s ultimate comfort food during lockdown is to be expected’.
The l atest f i gures f rom Kantar show grocery sales growth in Ireland slowed to 11.9% year-on-year during the 12 weeks to October 4. However, stronger growth of 12.2% over the latest four weeks points to shoppers preparing to spend more time at home.
Ms Healy said: ‘While growth over the past three months has slowed compared with the dizzying heights of lockdown, we still spent over €100million more on groceries in the past four weeks versus this time last year. We expect to see a further boost in spend as restrictions tighten.’
With Dublin at Level 3 since mid- September, consumer trends there could indicate what’s to come for the rest of the country as more measures come into force.
Ms Healy said: ‘Shoppers returned to lockdown pastimes including recreating r estaurant and holi day favourites at home, with sales of international ingredients rising by 25%. Unsurprisingly, hygiene was at the forefront of Dubliners’ minds, and antiseptics and disinfectants sales were up by 67%.’