Frozen fruit sales rose by almost 50 per cent in the last four weeks while shoppers replaced ’cooking with grazing’ to cope with heat and inflation eased for fifth month running, new figures show
Frozen fruit sales rose by 48.1 per cent in the four weeks to 9 August, far outpacing the fresh fruit category, according to the latest figures from Worldpanel by Numerator.
Shoppers made an additional 6.2 million trips to the freezer aisle this month compared to the same period last year as continued hot weather shaped buying habits.
Convenient summer favourites also performed well, with coleslaw and potato salad sales up 23.1 and 22 per cent respectively, and Worldpanel describing the trend as “a summer spread built for grazing rather than cooking”.
“The continued heat across the UK has certainly impacted the way people are eating and drinking,” said Worldpanel business unit director, Sally Ball.
“Earlier this summer we saw that mealtimes were being pushed later in the day, with 13 per cent of evening meals now eaten after 8pm.”
Grocery price inflation eased to 2.1 per cent over the period, marking the lowest rate since October 2024, while take-home sales growth at the multiple retailers slowed to 2.5 per cent.
“With inflation slowing again, this marks the fifth consecutive month of easing prices,” said Ball.
Around 40 per cent of shoppers are now feeling financially comfortable, marking the highest level of financial confidence since November 2021. Many still shoppers turned to promotions to keep costs down, with 31.3 per cent of sales including a deal last month, marking the highest level this year.
Despite overall grocery inflation slowing, online baskets are getting smaller although it remains the fastest growing channel. Ocado was once again the fastest growing grocer, with sales up by 13.1 per cent over the 12 weeks to 9 August 2026. Lidl gained the most share this period, with the greatest uplift in shoppers and reaching 8.8 per cent market share.
Asda edged closer to its first sales increase of the year, with a modest drop of 0.2 per cent year on year as its best recorded performance since March 2024.
