Brit shoppers develop taste for "wartime" food - courtesy recession

London, May 13 (ANI): Sales of old-fashioned 'wartime' food in the UK has rocketed since the recession, figures show.

Despite the enormous range of products available on supermarket shelves, it seems shoppers still have a taste for old classics more associated with wartime than the 21st century.

According to grocery shopping and comparison site mySupermarket.co.uk, sales of products such as powdered milk, sandwich pastes, corned beef and chicken spread have increased over the last two years.

The data, taken from Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury's and Ocado, shows that the popularity of the old-fashioned items has increased most in the east of England - up 50 percent - since the start of the economic downturn in 2008.

Shoppers from the North East of England spend the most annually on these products, closely followed by shoppers in Wales.

However, Londoners are not so keen, with shoppers from the nation's capital spending 15 percent less on these retro products today than in 2008.

Jonny Steel, a spokesman for MySupermarket, said consumers appeared to be relying on the items as 'cheap and cheerful' alternatives to more expensive products.

"It's interesting to see these old style products enjoying a resurgence over the last two years," the Mirror quoted him as saying.

"The items that have seen sales increases are things we tend to associate with wartime, so this may well be a reaction to the recession as consumers look to rein in their shopping bills to et through a difficult time," he added. (ANI)