England's Euros run boosts supermarket beer sales - but Asda slips back against rivals

The figures cover the four weeks to July 7 when the quarter finals were played – meaning further boosts are anticipated when next month’s statistics take into account England’s progress to the semi-finals and final.

Of the figures available so far for the early rounds of the tournament, with many matches played on “school nights”, Britons apparently chose moderation, sending spending on no and low-alcohol beer up by 38 per cent on matchdays.

More generally, grocery price inflation continued its fall to 1.6 per cent, down from June’s 2.1 per cent and its lowest figure since September 2021.

The drop coincided with the fastest rise in monthly footfall so far this year, with Britons making 2 per cent more trips to the supermarket this period than they did one year ago.

As household financial pressures eased, sales of branded products increased by 3.6 per cent, outpacing own-label items at 2.7 per cent.

Ocado was the fastest growing grocer for the fifth month in a row, with sales up by 10.7 per cent over the 12 weeks to July 7. The online-only retailer now holds 1.8 per cent of the market, up 0.1 percentage points compared with the same period last year.

Lidl saw a 7.8 per cent jump in sales, bringing its share of the market to 8.1 per cent.

Waitrose gained share for the first time since January 2022, achieving a 0.1 percentage point rise to 4.5 per cent as spending at the retailer increased by 3.3 per cent.

Britain’s largest grocer Tesco achieved its biggest share gain since November 2021, taking 27.7 per cent of the market – a 0.7 percentage point increase versus last year. Sainsbury’s boosted sales by 4.7 per cent over the latest 12 weeks, bringing its share to 15.3 per cent up from 14.9 per cent.

Morrisons accounts for 8.7 per cent of the market – an unchanged position from the same point last year, while Asda holds a 12.7 per cent share. This was down by 0.9 per cent on last year and follows a 5.3 per cent fall in overall sales.

Aldi’s market share now stands at 10 per cent – a 0.2 per cent drop.Co-op has a 5.7 per cent share, and Iceland maintains its 2.3 per cent portion of the market, nudging up its sales by 4.1 per cent.

Meanwhile, the soggy summer has considerably the other products that consumers have been reaching for on supermarket shelves in recent weeks.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “We’re still waiting for the great British summer to break through the clouds, and we’re seeing the effects of that in our shopping baskets.

"Over the past three months, sales of cold and flu treatments jumped by 35 per cent, while sun cream dipped by 10 per cent compared with last year, when we were enjoying the warmest June on record.

"Some shoppers aren’t letting the disappointing weather dull their glow, however, pushing up sales of artificial tan by 16 per cent.”