Citrus sales at Asda have soared in the past year thanks to our national obsession with gin and tonics.
Britain’s third largest retailer, which recently announced a merger with Sainsbury’s, saw an increase in volumes of citrus sold jump 49 per cent compared to last year, offloading 17 million limes.
The category’s success was attributed to lime sales in particular, used to garnish the drink. Asda has introduced new frozen lemon and lime wedges to keep up with demand.
In 2017, Brits drank 51 million bottles of gin, according to Asda, with 20 per cent of gin drinkers stating they use a slice of lime in their drinks, and a further 24 per cent saying they couldn’t enjoy their tipple without a wedge of the fruit.
Miguel Perez, Asda’s citrus buyer, said: “It’s rare to see such a spike in sales for an everyday fruit such as limes. However, this last year has been an exception, with the growing love of gin driving lime sales as Brits turn to the citrus as a garnish for their drinks.
“With gin seeing no sign of slowing down, we expect to see this growth increase in citrus fruit beyond limes, with oranges and grapefruit both set to spike over the summer as customers look for even more flavour for their drinks.”
