Hot weather fuels sales of cool bags by 78% at Waitrose

The hot weather boosted turnover for Waitrose last week (to Saturday June 17) with total sales, excluding fuel, up 6.1% on the year-ago period.

The supermarket chain’s finance director Loraine Woodhouse commented that rosé wine sales were up 108%, helped by the timing of a ‘25% off three bottles of wine’ promotion. Cider sales rose by 36%, spirits by 27% and beer by 22%. Ice for drinks experienced sales growth of 110%.

She added that “barbecue food was unsurprisingly popular, with sales rocketing by 114%”. Sales of accompaniments soared too, with quiche up 38%, dips up 23% and salads up 12%.

Fresh produce benefited from the good weather too, with sales up 7.5% overall. Melons and strawberries proved particularly popular, with sales up 33% and 18% respectively. Cool bags saw strong sales of 78%.