Corona lager sales skyrocketed in 2020, while cosmetics sales fell

Supermarket data shows Corona and other lagers surged in popularity during pandemic

The fastest-growing grocery product of 2020 was San Miguel, followed by Corona (Getty)

Sales of Corona lager have skyrocketed this year in supermarkets, new data has found.

According to a survey conducted by The Grocer and market research firm Nielsen, sales of tobacco have also soared during the pandemic, while Britons also invested an additional £2.5bn on wine, spirits and meats.

The fastest-growing grocery product of 2020 was San Miguel, with a 63 per cent rise in popularity.

Corona beer came in second place, with a 40 per cent rise in sales, while Budweiser and Stella Artois followed in third and forth place, respectively.

The fifth fastest-growing product was sausages, followed by Pepsi Cola, bacon, and Cadbury Dairy Milk.

Meanwhile, the fastest-falling grocery item was cosmetics, with a 22 per cent decline in sales.

This was followed by chewing gum, styling products and bottled water.

November was identified as being the biggest month ever for grocery sales, with consumer spending nearly £11bn in total during the second nationwide lockdown of the year.

The Grocer’s Top Products Survey is sourced using data from Nielsen’s Scantrack service, which monitors weekly sales data from a nationwide network of checkout scanners and represents sales in grocery multiples, co-ops, multiple off-licences, independents, forecourts, convenience multiples and symbols, online grocery retailers and online fulfilment store. 

Rachel White, Nielsen’s retail intelligence leader for the UK and Ireland, said the pandemic had “shifted consumer shopping habits to the extreme. 

“With more free time at home, consumers moved away from chilled ready-meal options and focused instead on creating their own dining experience at home, cooking with fresh ingredients and enjoying a drink at home rather than at the pub.”

The data comes as it was also revealed that diamond sales have also decreased this year, falling by a third in 2020 compared to 2019.

De Beers, the world’s biggest diamond producer, reported having provisionally sold $2.7bn (£1.9bn) of rough diamonds during 2020.

But in 2019, the company reported sales of more than $4bn (£2.9bn).