Sales of hand sanitiser, bottled water and batteries surge after Government warns people about potential cyber attack

Sales of essential supplies in Britain's supermarkets from hand sanitiser to bottled water have jumped after the launch of the Government's 'Be Ready' campaign.Shoppers responded to the public awareness drive encouraging households to prepare for up to three days in the event of disruption to essential services.Ministers have urged the public to be ready for the possibility that businesses could be hit by increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks that may knock out supply chains. Sales of hand sanitiser increased by 83 per cent in the ten days after the campaign was launched on October 22, compared to the corresponding period last year.Bottled water sales rose 67 per cent, while batteries were up 63 per cent, dried rice rose 53 per cent, according to the data from Worldpanel by Numerator.Tinned and jarred fish increased by 46 per cent, general tinned and jarred goods were up 37 per cent, while tinned and jarred pulses rose 36 per cent.The number of people buying tinned meat each day after the launch of the campaign rose by 43 per cent – equivalent to an extra 400,000 shoppers a day.However the typical amount of tinned meat bought remained at about 500g in terms of pack size, suggesting households are gradually stocking their cupboards.Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Worldpanel, said: 'Shoppers clearly took notice of the Be Ready campaign, but this wasn't panic buying, with less than a third of households buying bottled water in October. Bottled water supplies at a Sainsbury's supermarket in Slough, Berkshire, on October 28 'Growth came from more people adding the recommended items on the Government's checklist to their weekly shop, not from shoppers piling their trolleys high, which is very much in line with what the Government wanted households to do.'Overall grocery price inflation rose in October – with supermarket prices now 2.6 per cent higher than a year ago, up from 2.5 per cent the previous month.Mr McKevitt added: 'While prices are rising at a slower rate than at the beginning of the year, the direction of travel has changed.'Household budgets have already taken a hit after the latest increase to the energy price cap arrived with the cold weather in October, and shoppers will be keeping a close eye on prices at the tills this winter.'Sales of pumpkins were up 10 per cent year on year as households also prepared for Halloween, while sales of tubs of sugar confectionery were up 28 per cent compared to last year.Sales at online-only grocer Ocado grew by 12.3 per cent over the 12 weeks to November 1, to reach a record market share of 2.3 per cent.Marks & Spencer, which part owns the Ocado retail business, separately increased grocery sales through its stores over the same period by 14.6 per cent.Spending through the tills at Lidl increased by 6.6 per cent, resulting in a market share gain of 0.4 percentage points, the greatest of any retailer, handing it 8.6 per cent of all sales. Tins of baked beans on sale at a Tesco supermarket in Northwich, Cheshire, on TuesdayThe third retailer to increase share compared with last year was Waitrose, moving up to 4.5 per cent from 4.4 per cent as sales rose by 2.2 per cent.Sales at Morrisons rose by 2 per cent, slightly ahead of the market, delivering market share of 8.3 per cent, while Tesco and Sainsbury's took a 27.8 per cent and 15.5 per cent share respectively.New Asda chief executive David Potts started his role with a market share of 11.3 per cent, as more than half of households shopped in its stores or online over the last three months.Sales were up by 0.4 per cent at Aldi, Britain's fourth largest grocer, taking share to 10.4 per cent, while Co-op's sales were 0.7 per cent higher than a year ago to give it 5.3 per cent of the market.Separately, tinned tuna maker Princes revealed a surge in demand for canned food from Britons stockpiling essentials in response to the Be Ready campaign.The London-listed group reported a rise in demand for products such as tinned fish, meat and vegetables since the public awareness drive was launched.Giuseppe Mastrolia, interim chief executive of Princes Group, said: 'The increase in demand for our ambient food products following the UK Government's Be Ready campaign further reinforces the relevance of our core categories in providing affordable, nutritious and convenient food solutions.'Price hikes helped the firm's like-for-like sales rise 3.3 per cent in its third quarter to September 30 as the group passed on higher costs as inflation rose amid the Iran war. Tinned tuna maker Princes has revealed a surge in demand for canned food from BritonsIt said around 70 per cent of the third-quarter sales performance came from price increases in July.The group said it was starting talks with customers to push through further price rises to counter extra cost inflation.'We continue to take proactive measures to protect profitability, through disciplined pricing and further customer negotiations to recover rising costs,' Mr Mastrolia said.Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist for Wealth Club, said: 'France has accused Iranian forces of being behind the cyber-attack targeting supermarket refrigeration systems. The curious breaches have been a stark reminder of just how easily food supplies can be disrupted.'It seems consumers here have taken the warnings seriously about the need to stockpile in the event of a future crisis.'She added: 'As shoppers have stocked up on long-life supplies, it's been a boost for Princes Group.'The company which supplies goods like tuna, tinned tomato and pasta saw revenues lift by 7 per cent over the first half and noted increased demand for ambient food products.'If supplies are disrupted here, it seems tuna pasta bake could be the meal of choice in a crisis.'