Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding gave an unexpected gift to supermarkets after grocery sales spiked in the build up to their big day.
Sparkling wine, cakes and baking products were the natural big risers, but soft-fruit sales also jumped 7.1 per cent over the previous week, adding millions to the tills, according to analysts IRI.
In total shoppers splashed out £1.68 billion in preparation for the lavish nuptials as shoppers embraced the party mood. The only loser seemed to be our livers, as booze replaced soft drinks and water, which declined by 4.3 per cent and 6.7 per cent respectively.
Tim Dummer, commercial and strategy director for IRI, said: “It’s no surprise that UK consumers splashed out on sparkling wine and cakes during arguably the biggest party of the year. The combination of a special celebration, beautiful weather and an increase in visitor numbers to the UK saw supermarkets’ tills ringing.”
IRI’s data was taken from UK multiples Tesco, Waitrose, M&S, Morrisons, Asda, Iceland, Co-op, Ocado and Sainsbury’s, which also revealed sales of dried fruit to have risen marginally.
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