Ocado Share News (OCDO)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The so-called Beast from the East's cold snap in the UK failed to freeze grocery sales as retailers lost out on just GBP22 million in sales, according to the latest UK grocery market share figures published Wednesday by Kantar Worldpanel.

"The Beast from the East played havoc with consumers' usual shopping plans. In the run up to and during the cold snap, shoppers stockpiled groceries buying 4% more items than normal, increasing the average value of a trip from GBP14.99 to GBP15.80. However, they simultaneously visited stores 5% less often as they stayed wrapped up at home, meaning overall lost sales from the storm were minimised to GBP22 million," said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel

"Warming foods and drinks were the go-to items for customers after braving the snowy weather – sales of hot beverages and tinned soup grew by 8.4% and 27.5% respectively over the past month," McKevitt added.

McKevitt said an early Easter this year compared to 2017 motivated consumers to start their Easter weekend shopping during the month of March. Easter eggs sales rose 69% year-on-year despite average prices jumping by 35 pence to GBP1.83 and hot cross buns also saw a steep rise, with sales up GBP7.7 million compared to this time last year, he added.

Sales at German retailers Lidl and Aldi grew around 10% year-on-year in the 12 week period to March 25, with both retailers competing to become the country's fastest growing supermarket chain.

This compares to sales growth for the big four UK supermarkets of 2.4% for Tesco PLC, 0.6% for J Sainsbury PLC, 2.4% for WM Morrison Supermarkets PLC and 1.8% for Asda, part of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Meanwhile, Waitrose recorded growth of 1.5% and online grocer Ocado Group PLC of 9.3%. Co-op posted a 0.1% rise in sales, while Iceland sales fell 0.8% in the period.

Tesco's market share remained steady at 27.6% in the 12-week period. Sainsbury's market share fell by 0.3 percentage point to 15.8%. Asda's market share fell back by 0.2 percentage point to 15.6%, while Morrisons' share fell to 10.4% from 10.5% a year ago.

"Grocery inflation now stands at 2.5% for the 12 week period ending March 25. Prices are rising fastest in markets such as butter, fresh fish and fresh pork, fresh lamb, and are falling in only a few markets, including laundry detergents and ambient cooking sauces," Kantar said.