Product sales of hand sanitiser in supermarkets a lot more than tripled final thirty day period as worried clients flocked to defend them selves from coronavirus.

Product sales soared by 255pc in February, in accordance to new data from Kantar Worldpanel, while liquid soap profits enhanced 7pc and house cleaning items rose by 10pc.

Fraser McKevitt of Kantar said: “Provided the media target close to the outbreak of Covid-19 in February, it can be unsurprising to see purchasers prudently protecting them selves from health issues.”

Nonetheless, it was just component of an total upward trend, with grocery store profits growing by .7pc in the twelve months to Feb 23 – the quickest enhance considering the fact that November final yr.

Nonetheless, it was worse news for the even larger gamers, with Sainsbury’s the only 1 of the massive grocers to article a increase in yr-on-yr profits with a 0.3pc enhance. That was its initially growth considering the fact that Oct, in accordance to Kantar.

Mr McKevitt said: “Sainsbury’s has done properly this time period despite a difficult sector, rising profits in its Sainsbury’s Community convenience retailers as properly as on the web. It’s really worth noting, nonetheless, that ongoing tension from the discounted suppliers meant the retailer even now dropped sector share this thirty day period.

Tesco sales dipped by .8pc, whilst Asda was down 1.2pc, Kantar located.

Lidl was the fastest-rising grocery store for the initially time considering the fact that November 2017 as profits jumped by eleven.4pc.

Arch rival Aldi posted a 5.7pc enhance, supplying it a seven.9pc sector share. Ocado ongoing double-digit growth with a 10.8pc enhance, whilst Iceland’s profits rose by 1.7pc.