Carrots, prosecco and sprouts lift The Co-op

CONVENIENCE proved decisive for the Co-operative Food as the grocer continued its recent run of good form over the Christmas period.

While the discounters such as Lidl and Aldi are expected to have hit the big four supermarkets, Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons over the festive period, the Co-op said its sales had increased.

Across the crucial Christmas period, Christmas Eve was the busiest trading day with almost 3.5 million transactions as customers bought last minute essentials. 

By volume the three best-selling items were carrots, prosecco and sprouts, while a number of key product lines saw notable year-on-year growth in the  two weeks to January 3.

Mince pie sales were up 37%, more than 425,000 bottles of prosecco were sold over the period, a +1.4% increase; chilled party food sales rose 4%.

There were also major rises in speciality cheese sales with Wensleydale & Cranberry up 48% and Garlic Roule 50% higher.

Steve Murrells, retail chief executive, The Co-operative Group, said: “We witnessed a strong trading performance across the key festive trading weeks and it’s clear from our sales data that convenience shopping was in the ascendency this Christmas with more customers opting to shop little and often.

“Millions of shoppers visited us during the key trading period with Christmas Eve being the biggest sales day of the year, despite the heavy rainfall in a number of our key locations.

“For many, the top-up shop was a must for those little extras, party food purchases and forgotten essentials. Key best-selling lines included mince pies and Prosecco and we also had great success with our sprouts, carrots and parsnips offer this Christmas, following the launch of our ‘Fresh Three’ price promotion.”

He said the group had tried to support communities worst affected by the flooding last month, not only with the opening of pop-up stores selling essential items, but in donating food parcels too.