Sales of bread, milk, butter and eggs surge during cold snap

When it comes to Arctic weather, Irish people hunker down and get back to basics.

During this week’s cold snap, which brought widespread snow, ice and freezing temperatures across the country, the simple, and most essential, foods sufficed.

SuperValu — Ireland's leading community retailer — has revealed a sharp increase in demand for essential food items as customers stocked up ahead of the Baltic conditions.

Over the weekend of January 3rd and 4th, stores nationwide sold an additional 100,000 loaves of bread, while demand for milk, butter, and eggs more than doubled.

Wrapped bread was the clear favourite, peaking on Saturday with one in three shopping baskets containing a loaf at midday — a jump from the typical one in five seen in early December. Shoppers were stocking up, with a seven per cent increase in bread items per basket compared to the previous weekend.

As temperatures continued to plummet, demand for milk, butter, and eggs soared, with sales more than doubling — up 147 per cent.

Chilled product sales skyrocketed by a staggering 384 per cent on Sunday, January 5th, as people prepped for cosy home-cooked meals.

Fresh meat and fish also saw a significant boost, with over 50 per cent increased demand, and favourites like SuperValu chicken fillets and round steak mince snapped up by shoppers.

Comfort foods and heating supplies were in hot demand

*33 per cent rise in home-baking items as families embraced warm, freshly baked treats.

*Tea, coffee, and soups were also strong performers.

*Fuel sales spiked, with fire logs and starters up 61 per cent and briquettes soaring 80.4 per cent.

*Shoppers showed they were prepared for the freezing temperatures, ensuring they had both the essentials and the comforts to weather the storm.

“The ongoing freezing weather conditions have had a clear impact on SuperValu customer purchasing habits in recent days. Customers are prioritising staple products such as bread, milk, eggs, meat and fish to see them through the uncertain weather period,” said SuperValu Managing Director, Luke Hanlon.