Hot weather promises to send food sales soaring by 10%, says Co-op

Food retail sales in the UK could soar by 10% or £290m a week with a late summer heatwave, according to a new report from the Co-op.

The report showed peaks and troughs in grocery sales caused by the weather and convenience stores becoming key destinations for spur-of-the-moment shopping in the sunniest weather when barbecues and picnics were in shoppers’ minds.

Furthermore, the report, entitled “Sunny sales up - How a good summer could generate millions for UK businesses”, predicted “a major shot in the arm” for the economy if more sunshine arrived in the next few weeks.

It said food sales could soar by £290m a week with a few days of sizzling temperatures. Coincidentally, the Met Office has forecast warm days from Sunday to the middle of next week, but reverting to more changeable weather again from the latter part and onwards to early September.

“In-depth analysis reveals that the weather really does lead to high street sale peaks and troughs. The hotter it gets the more Brits shop for food and drink, while a dip in temperatures decreases sales - a variance of up to 10%,” the report states.

Last summer, Co-op sales soared by 10% when temperatures rose above 21 degrees, and the same happened the year before. With average weekly sales of £2.9bn at UK food retailers, the upsurge could be £290m per week.

Co-op chief executive of retail Steve Murrells said summer was more important than Christmas for the mutual as people’s spontaneity meant they expected food for barbecues and picnics to be available at its convenience stores.

“Summertime is a season we spend less time cooking and planning our meals. We make more spur-of-the-moment decisions, which means convenience stores are a key shopping destination.

“Consumers are shaping what convenience now means, with it increasingly being about a way of living rather than a store format. Therefore, not surprisingly, businesses which save shoppers precious time are experiencing real growth, and by being in 2,800 communities across the UK, we are benefiting from being able to ‘sell time’ to customers.”

Murrells added that recent independent reports showed shoppers were now switching to the Co-op for the first time in five years.

Its report said a 10-degree rise in the temperature in the summer could see a 300% increase in its barbecue meats sales and a 50% surge in coleslaw sales.

In the w/c 16 July this year demand for salad items peaked, with like-for-like lettuce sales up by 230% and baby plum tomatoes by 365%. Similarly, peaks happened in hottest week of June.

The retailer said it expected to sell 1.5m more produce lines during heatwaves, including many British varieties. Among best sellers were strawberries - up to 185m punnets during the enhanced six-month British season - and an extra 75,000 lettuce heads and 132,024 salad bags and bowls in the hottest summer week.

Even when the weather was unpredictable expectations of summer prevailed, the report explained, demonstrated by the last week of Wimbledon this year when sales of Champagne soaring by 34% despite the rain. But on hot days sales of cold beers were expected to spike by 135%.

“We all know that the weather in Britain is unpredictable, especially during the summer months. However, we all come to expect that our local store will be stocked with enough ice and burgers when the temperature does spike,” the report concluded.