BBQ season officially on the way as heatwave hits Britain

Last week’s mini-heatwave brought a boost to grocery retailers as shoppers stocked up on barbecue foods.

Tesco BBQ meat range buyer Natalie Bastow said: “After months of rain this was the first real opportunity for Brits to get out into the garden and enjoy a barbecue with family and friends. Shoppers wasted no time stocking up for a few days of fun with alfresco cooking for a change.”

Based on growing early demand, the supermarket chain expected to sell more than eight million sausages, around two million burgers, more than three million punnets of strawberries, three million ice lollies, around 1.5 million tubs of ice cream, nearly 25 million bottles/cans of beer and nearly one million bottles of wine.

Tesco is bracing itself for demand to continue this week and has allocated extra shelf space for barbecue foods, beer and wine.