Sales of marmalade up by almost one fifth following Queen’s death

The Queen’s love of marmalade was documented during her platinum jubilee celebrations

Sales of marmalade surged by almost 20 per cent in the weeks following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

The Queen died of old age at the age of 96 at her Balmoral estate in Scotland on 8 September.

Months prior to her death and during her platinum jubilee celebrations, she took part in a skit with Paddington Bear which showed the pair discuss their love for marmalade sandwiches and where they like to store them.

New grocery market data from analytics firm Kantar, released on Tuesday 11 October, revealed that some members of the public had paid their respects to the monarch by raising a sandwich in her honour.

Sales of marmalade soared by 18 per cent in the 12 weeks to 2 October, suggesting that the public had stocked up on the sweet condiment following the platinum jubilee weekend and the Queen’s death.

Separately, the data also gave insight on how shopping habits have adapted to the cost of living crisis.

Kantar’s data showed that grocery inflation has increased to 13.9 per cent, a record high since the firm began tracking supermarket prices in 2008.

The increase in prices means the average household would spend £643 more on their annual grocery bill if they continued to buy the same items.

While the cost of living crisis has not had a dramatic impact on consumers’ diets, Kantar found that sales of frozen vegetables have slightly increased.

Additionally, shoppers are leaning toward buying imperfect items to save money, with sales of Tesco’s Perfectly Imperfect range and Morrisons Naturally Wonky offerings up by 38 per cent.

Kantar said shoppers are still buying similar grocery items but are choosing supermarket own brand ranges over branded products.

Sales of branded items declined by 0.7 per cent in the past month, and own label sales increased by 8.1 per cent.