A study has found that Brits spent far more on tea, biscuits and books over the lockdown—and it’s surprising no one.
This year, to put it lightly, has been a bit of a weird one. Many of us have been home more than usual. Many of us have had (tea) bags of extra free time on our hands, or needed fuel to get through days of working from home. So, what do you think we all spent our money on during that time?
Yes, that’s right. In classic British fashion, we spent it on cups of tea, coffee and packets of biscuits, along with a good book to enjoy them with. What else were we meant to do during this difficult time?
A study by Kantar has confirmed that people in Britain have spent an extra £24 million on tea and coffee, plus £19 million more on biscuits in the last three months. Publishers Bloomsbury have also confirmed that we have been reading a lot more.
Kantar found that grocery sales climbed 16.9% during the lockdown, the highest growth since records began in 1994. Unsurprisingly, online grocery deliveries also rose, with people more cautious about leaving the house.
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Of course, what could be more perfect to accompany your cuppa than a good book? It seems many had the idea of wrapping themselves up in a whodunnit, crime thriller or fantasy novel as they slurped on their tea. Nope, doesn’t sound like Britain at all.
Sales back this fact up to the hill, with Bloomsbury enjoying a 28% rise in revenue compared to this time last year. They also confirmed that print revenues were 9% above the same period last year, while digital revenues jumped 63%.
Bestsellers included the larger-than-life Harry Potter books, but also many educational reads relating to the Black Lives Matter movement. These were led by ‘Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race’ by Reni Eddo-Lodge and ‘White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide’ by Carol Anderson.
Business as usual, but amped up a little during lockdown it seems. After all, there’s nothing better than a nice brew to calm the nerves.
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