SCOTTISH food sales continue to be buoyed up by inflation, although there is some evidence that an appetite for local produce is paying dividends at the tills.
The latest figures produced by KPMG for the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) reveal total food sales for the four weeks to 27 January were up 4.4% on the same period the previous year, while the market as a whole was up only 1.4%
Like-for-like food sales for the period were up, by less, increasing 3.3% on the previous year.
These latest figures mark the twelfth consecutive month total food sales have increased in Scotland. After a 2.6% year-on-year drop in January 2017, sales had modest growth until April with year-on-year growth coming in above 4% every month since.
Ewan MacDonald-Russell, head of policy and external affairs at the SRC, said: “As with previous months, the rise in food sales is the driving force behind growth, with the 4.2% rise bringing the 12-month average to the highest point in over six years.
“That rise is still being lifted by food price inflation, but traditional Scottish products did well, including strong haggis sales as customers toasted the Bard of Ayrshire.”
