Ice-cream demand fires up supermarket sales in June

Soaring temperatures and rising inflation deliver biggest rise in more than five years

Booming sales of ice-cream, gin and cider during the heatwave have combined with a jump in inflation to deliver the biggest rise in supermarket sales in more than five years.

Sales revenue rose 5% in the 12 weeks to the end of June, the biggest increase since March 2012, in stark contrast to the 0.2% decline a year before, according to the latest market share data from Kantar Worldpanel.