Alcohol sales soar in summer heat

Britons spent an extra £67 million on alcoholic drinks last month as the hot summer brought strong growth to the grocery market, supermarket figures have shown.

Consumers’ willingness to spend more on products such as ice cream and soft drinks resulted in the growth of branded products outstripping own label lines for the first time since May 2015, according to figures from Kantar Worldpanel for the 12 weeks to 12 August.

Non-alcoholic beer sales soared 58 per cent compared with the same time last year and soft drink sales increased by 28 per cent. Men’s skincare products jumped by 16 per cent, which Kantar attributed to the popularity of TV reality series Love Island.

Consumer preference for shopping locally when the sun is shining helped The Co-op experience its fastest growth in nearly seven years.