Waitrose said its home bakery category was up 55% this week as shoppers got inspired by The Great British Bake Off.
The BBC show drove cake mix sales up 13% and sales of baking trays shot up 881% in the run up to the new season.
Waitrose reported speciality flour sales up 9%, food colouring up 8% while traditional cooking fruits like raisins, sultanas and cherries are up by 46% as the popularity of baking continues to grow.
One in three customers said they had tried to recreate the one of the recipes from the TV programme at home and half said over the past five years they had been baking more.
For customers who are less confident in the kitchen, sales of readymade cakes are also on the rise with cupcakes sales up 60%, cherry bakewells up 46% and Battenberg up 43%.
“This year’s show is expected to be more popular than ever before and we expect the demand for all things baking to rise faster than a Victoria Sponge as shoppers recreate recipes from the show at home,” said Waitrose homebaking buying manager Kate Chapman.
Last year, when contestants used an ice-cream scoop to distribute even cake mix sales of the utensil shot up 10%.
Meanwhile, sales in the frozen category also increased for the supermarket this week with frozen meat up 16% and frozen vegetables up 17%. Waitrose pinned the unusual activity to erratic weather conditions encouraging customers to buy products usually associated with colder months like the traditional Sunday dinner.
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