Sales boost for food and drink sector

Published: 23 July, 2008

The food and drink sector has witnessed a boost in sales despite slumping consumer confidence and eroding spending power.

In its latest snapshot, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) - KPMG Retail Sales Monitor for May showed that food sales strengthened', as grocery sales were up strongly on May 2007.

This is a boost for the trade as consumer confidence drops "sharply to new lows" due to increased demands on household budgets, according to the report.

Jenny Denny-Finch, IGD chief executive, said: "In spite of deteriorating consumer confidence and eroding spending power, the UK's grocery retailers are maintaining sales growth and trading relatively well through challenging times."

However, she did add that the summer weather would affect performance and that challenges in trading were set to continue.

General UK trade, according to the monthly monitor, saw sales rise 1.9% on a like-for-like basis, compared with May 2007, when trade was up 1.8%. The May gain followed year-on-year declines in March and April.

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