Retailers enjoy sales boost as summer finally arrives

By Emily Kearns, Lucy Britner

Published: 19 July, 2013

As the country basks in what has been a fortnight of hot weather, supermarkets and wine merchants have been reaping the rewards, with increased sales across the beers, wines and spirits category.

Cider, beer, rosé and sparkling wines enjoyed double and even triple-digit growth, while white rum sales at Sainsbury's saw a massive 122% increase on the same time last year. The supermarket also reported 103% growth for cider and sold 59% more rosé wine.

Meanwhile, Waitrose sold a third more Champagne and two-thirds more sparkling wine than in the second week of July last year.

Cider was also the big winner at Morrisons. Andrew Turner, wine trading manager, said: "In the past week we have seen an uplift in sales which can in part be attributed to the hot weather. Over this short period we saw 33% year-on-year growth for total BWS, with cider up 89%, beer up 83% and wine up 12%."

Ted Sandbach, managing director of the Oxford Wine Company, said: "Our outside wine café is proving fantastic. Sales are solid, although wholesale is down slightly, which isn't surprising with fewer people going to restaurants.

"Our direct sales have seen an increase for the same reason - people are drinking at home. The increase of sales is primarily due to rosé and, interestingly enough, Touraine Sauvignon Blanc. People are buying more Touraine than they are New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc."

Hal Wilson, owner of Cambridge Wine Merchants agreed: "Sales are good in general with more people socialising and enjoying the weather. Reds may be taking a bit of hit, but sales are generally good."

Katherine Canfield, assistant retail manager at Hangingditch in Manchester, said: "A very popular summer drink at the moment is the Aperol Spritz, a refreshing summer cocktail.

"Prosecco overall seems to be moving quite heavily with the warmer weather and white wine is outpacing red wine at the moment."

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