With an uplift of £100million as Muslims prepare ‘iftaar’ Britain’s biggest supermarkets have been boosted with a £100million sales thanks to Ramadan…reports Asian Lite.
Three million Muslims in the UK will break their fast with lavish sundown meals during the Islamic holy month which ends with the Eid celebration on July 18 this year.
According to The Times report this is welcomed by supermarkets, with retail consultants saying the religious festival is now the third most important to stores behind Christmas and Easter – with meat, rice and fruit the big sellers.
For Morrisons is expected to sell more than two million tons of rice, Sainsbury’s says rice sales are up at least 100 per cent year on year, while Tesco believes sales will jump by £30million during the month.
Sainsbury’s world foods expert Hennah Baseer told MailOnline, ‘Ramadan is becoming an increasingly important calendar date for us.
This year we’ve already seen an increase in customers buying Asian products from our stores. Sales are up on key ingredients that are used to cook meals during Ramadan. We have a promotional event for Ramadan taking place in 270 stores until July 21 – geographically specific to stores that have a higher proportion of customers that take part in Ramadan.’
Meanwhile, Tesco runs Ramadan promotions in more than 300 stores in Britain, and said demand for key products including chapati flour, oil and dates rises by 70 per cent.
Morrisons shifts 80,000 boxes of dates during Ramadan, while it also experiences a 40,000 per cent sales uplift on its 10kg Amira rice, which is sold at half price for the month.
George Scott, of retail consultancy Conlumino, told The Times, ‘In terms of religious festivals, Ramadan is second now to Christmas and Easter in its importance to food retailers. ‘It’s very lucrative. It’s a growing market because the country is becoming more diverse – and if the supermarkets want to win customers, they have to cater to every taste.’