The stock market slide has driven our basket down but food and drink are tougher than some says Helen Gregory The champagne corks are staying firmly stoppered this month as the value of our share basket has dipped by a whopping £93. All the retailers and manufacturers saw their prices slide, reflecting a general downturn in the stock market which is affecting our sector less than many others. David Hallam at Williams de Broë insisted that it wasn't all doom and gloom as nearly all the manufacturers were performing better than the market which was down by 12.5%: "Looking forward to the next six months, there are still going to be uncertainties in the market but this group of stocks will continue to outperform because of their defensive growth characteristic." Dairy Crest saw the biggest drop in price ­ from 566p to 494p, but it was still in line with the market. Last month it pleased the City by posting a leap of 29% in full year pre-tax profit as its Unigate acquisition delivered £11m of synergy benefits. The firm's pre-tax profit climbed to £73.7m from £57m last year, on turnover up 5% to £1.37bn. On the retail side, Somerfield's results were better than expected this week and saw the chain creep into profit for the first time in three years. It made £22.2m compared with last year's loss of £13.1m. However, group like-for-like sales for the first eight weeks of this year were down 2.2% as the chain continues to restructure. Despite improving figures, the chain's share price fell to 103p, although it looked to be rallying slightly as we went to press. Dave Stoddart at Teather & Greenwood said the chain was still an "act of faith" although acknowledged management were realistic about the long timeframe needed to bring about real recovery. "The figures were in line with our forecasts," he said. Stoddart added that he believed the retailers would continue to outperform the market until the situation recovered generally when they would start to underperform. He added: "Tesco are still viewed as being a step ahead of Safeway and Sainsbury." Safeway's annual general meeting is coming up next Tuesday, while Sainsbury's is due on 24 July. {{PORTFOLIO }}