It just wasn't hot enough in Ireland this summer, apparently.

The lack of a "sustained heatwave" in Ireland this summer saw sales of items like sun cream and ice cream fall significantly, according to recent figures. For the twelve week period up until 11 August, sales of ice cream were down 17% on the same time last year while sales of sun care items were 41.5% lower. However, the overall grocery sector saw a growth of 2.7% in the same period, according to Kantar, a data insights and consulting company. This was somewhat down to the fact that the sales of wine, which is normally more popular in colder months, increased by 13.7%. So we've been having a fair bit of wine this summer... There has also been an increase in consumers placing an emphasis on the importance of more sustainable choices, with regards to their shopping decisions. According to Kam City, Charlotte James, consumer insight director at Kantar, said: "Aldi’s ban on black plastic trays for fruit and veg packaging and SuperValu’s move to 100% compositable shopping bags are direct responses to a change in shopper habits. "Many consumers are already making the shift towards more sustainable choices. For example, loose fruit sales grew by 6.4% in the latest 12 weeks as pre-packed alternatives declined by 2.3%. Lidl has made the most headway in this respect and sold 23% of its fruit loose, the highest proportion of all the retailers."