Supermarket sales drop just 1 pct in H1

Sales at Greek supermarkets dipped 1 percent in the first half of the year, data compiled by the IRI research company have revealed, pointing to the smallest decrease since 2015 and a significant improvement from the 8.8 percent drop recorded in the first half of 2016 - attributed in part to the collapse of the Marinopoulos chain.

May was the best month for supermarkets in the first half of 2017 as sales increased 4.6 percent compared to the same month last year, while the uptick continued in June, albeit to a smaller extent, at 1.9 percent.

Moreover, while 2016 saw a contraction in sales in all three major categories, namely household goods, personal care products and foodstuffs, the first half of this year saw foodstuffs faring slightly better by 0.2 percent in terms of value and 0.4 percent in terms of volume.