Sales of bottled water rose 67 per cent and hand sanitiser 83 per cent in the 10 days after the government launched its “Be Ready” emergency preparedness campaign on 22 October, according to retail research firm Worldpanel by Numerator.
Sales of tinned and jarred goods climbed 37 per cent over the same period, the firm said.
The public awareness campaign encouraged people to stock up in case essential services are disrupted by severe weather or cyber attacks. It asked households to keep three days’ worth of food and water at home.
Worldpanel said that while households were stockpiling essentials, they were not panic buying.
After the campaign launch, the equivalent of an extra 400,000 people a day bought tinned meat, Worldpanel said. The typical amount bought remained at 500g, which the firm said suggests a gradual stocking up.
“Shoppers clearly took notice of the ‘Be Ready’ campaign, but this wasn’t panic buying, with less than a third of households buying bottled water in October,” said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Worldpanel by Numerator.
“Growth came from more people adding the recommended items on the government’s checklist to their weekly shop, not from shoppers piling their trolleys high, which is very much in line with what the government wanted households to do,” he said.
Worldpanel also publishes monthly grocery market data tracking take-home sales and price inflation across Britain’s supermarkets.
Further evidence of stockpiling came from food group Princes today. The company said demand for tinned tuna, meat and vegetables had risen following the government’s campaign.
Giuseppe Mastrolia, interim chief executive of Princes, said the jump in demand “further reinforces the relevance of our core categories in providing affordable, nutritious and convenient food solutions”.
The Be Ready campaign warns that severe weather and cyber attacks could disrupt essential services. It says British households need to make sure they have what they need, for example bottled water and long-life food that does not need to be kept in the fridge, such as dried fruit and nuts.
The Cabinet Office, which announced the campaign alongside Security Minister Dan Jarvis, said the advice was the first stage of a three-year campaign. It said many of the recommended steps were free or low cost, and that the advice to prepare for three days of disruption was also used in France, Ireland and the Netherlands.
According to the Cabinet Office, more than 500 organisations, including charities and businesses, have signed up to share the campaign’s messaging within their networks and communities. Social media and radio adverts are aimed at families with young children and older people.
The government’s checklist also asks households to sign up to the Priority Services Register, a free scheme that helps gas, water and electricity companies identify customers who may need extra support during an emergency.
The Cabinet Office said much of the advice had been available since May 2024 and remained largely unchanged, with the previous “Prepare” website updated with new messaging and branding.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said everyone should have “those supplies in the house to get you through those moments”.
