{
  "id": 19305333,
  "title": "Tinned tuna and hand sanitiser sales soar after shoppers told to stockpile",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/10/tinned-tuna-and-hand-sanitiser-sales-soar-after-shoppers-told-to",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-11-10T08:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "City AM",
    "slug": "city-am",
    "url": "https://www.cityam.com/tinned-tuna-and-hand-sanitiser-sales-soar-after-shoppers-told-to-stockpile/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In the days following the UK government's warning to stockpile essential items, sales of tinned tuna and hand sanitiser surged. According to Worldpanel by Numerator, hand sanitizer sales increased by 83 percent year-on-year, while Princes Group, a London-listed tinned foods manufacturer, reported boosted demand for its products following the government's orders. Defence Secretary Wes Streeting revealed that he had begun stockpiling essentials weeks earlier in anticipation of potential hybrid attacks by hostile state actors or terrorists.\n\nPrinces Group CEO Giuseppe Mastrolia attributed the increased demand to the UK Government's \"Be Ready\" campaign, which launched at the end of October. The campaign encouraged households to build up supplies of non-perishable goods and survival essentials for three days. As a result, sales of bottled water and tinned goods in the UK rose by 67 and 37 percent, respectively, in the days following the government's announcement. Princes Group reported higher demand for canned fish, meat, fruit, and vegetables since the campaign's launch.\n\nA quarter (27 percent) of British adults admitted to stockpiling food or drink in the days following the government's announcement, according to Barclays. Steven Fergus, head of retail at Barclays, stated that many people were considering the potential consequences of power outages or running water for a few days, which is a sensible question. Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Worldpanel, noted that shoppers clearly paid attention to the government's campaign but emphasized that this was not panic buying, with less than a third of households purchasing bottled water in October.\n\nRetailers found themselves blindsided by the alert, prompting concerns about potential shortages of essential items. Marks & Spencer boss Stuart Machin expressed concern that the stockpiling advice worsened consumer sentiment by raising worries among shoppers. Despite these concerns, grocery sales increased by 2.2 percent in October as food inflation ticked up slightly from 2.5 to 2.6 percent.",
  "summary": "Essentials like tinned tuna and hand sanitiser began flying off of the shelves in the days following the government’s warning that Brits should start stockpiling. In the ten days after shoppers were told to build up piles of essentials, sales of hand sanitiser jumped by 83 per cent year-on-year, according to Worldpanel by Numerator. This [...]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}