Retailers have never seen trade like March when Government restrictions were imposed on the population to slow the spread of COVID-19. The four weeks to 22 March saw an extra £1.4bn record-breaking grocery sales. Red meat out-performed the average growth in groceries, with pork and beef mince selling the best. Dairy sales of cheese and spreads were up significantly. Fresh and frozen potato sales were up nearly one-third.

The dramatic rise in spending in the four weeks until 22 March was equivalent to an extra £21.08 spent per person, an uplift of almost 22% according to Kantar.

Lamb sales are up 12% since the lockdown but need to rise 18% to offset the closure of the service sector. Milk is up 9%, slightly below the 10% uplift in volume AHDB estimates is required to offset the losses of liquid milk sold through foodservice. However, potato sales, including processed, grew by 28% in volume, exceeding the 15% needed to offset foodservice loss.