Major supermarkets in the UK will reportedly see a £100 million ($157.5 million) sales boost thanks to the holy month of Ramadan which started last week.
Retail consultants say the religious festival is now the third most important to supermarkets behind Christmas and Easter as three million Muslims in the UK break their fast with sundown meals.
Morrisons is expected to sell more than two million tons of rice, Sainsbury’s says rice sales are up at least 100 percent year on year, while Tesco believes sales will jump by £30 million during the month, according to The Daily Mail.
It quoted Sainsbury’s world foods expert Hennah Baseer as saying: “Ramadan is becoming an increasingly important calendar date for us. This year we’ve already seen an increase in customers buying Asian products from our stores. Sales are up on key ingredients that are used to cook meals during Ramadan.”
It added that Tesco said demand for key products including chapati flour, oil and dates rises by 70 percent during the holy month which ends with Eid celebrations on July 18.
Morrisons told The Daily Mail that it will shift 80,000 boxes of dates during Ramadan.
Ramadan is observed as a period of fasting to commemorate the first revelation of the Quran to the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh).
This Ramadan is expected to bring the most challenging fast in decades because the month coincides with the Summer Solstice in the northern hemisphere for the first time in more than 30 years.
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