What do you think determines what we buy when we go food shopping? Whilst the odd item may catch our eye and lead to one of those ‘impulse purchases’, British consumers can in some ways be rather predictable when it comes to what influences their choices.

For example, when Christmas comes around, it isn’t hard to predict that we’re going to be looking for turkey and sprouts. And when the economy is doing well, the chances are we’ll be buying a few more bottles of expensive wine.

But one of the most important factors – in fact one which around half of the decision makers at UK retailers and suppliers would count in their top three – is the weather. And whilst Santa’s sleigh may come to town once a year like clockwork, us Brits – more so than most – know that the weather doesn’t quite work in such a predictable manner.

The weather can have a significant impact on what we choose to buy when in store, and ultimately on retailer performance. For example, a four degree increase in temperature can lead to sales of burgers increasing by nearly half, according to one leading supermarket.

When the weather changes, retailers risk losing millions through low stock levels, empty shelves and disappointed customers. It can lead to unexpected fluctuations in store footfall and sales, shortages in availability, and impact the costs and efficiencies of the whole supply chain – this is particularly true for fresh, chilled and seasonal products.

We wanted to understand a bit more about how the UK grocery sector as a whole accounts for the weather in its planning, so we have developed a new report based on opinions of key executives and managers across over 200 food suppliers and retailers in the UK. The report looks at just how much the weather impacts their business – and how they use weather products to make those all-important stock predictions. After all, no one likes going to the supermarket to find that their favourite food item is sold out.