Sales of own-label bakery party food were up 53% at The Co-operative’s food stores over the three weeks to 5 January.

Total food sales grew by 2.4%, and were up 2.2% on a like-for-like (LFL) basis for the festive trading period. Its convenience stores did particularly well, with LFL sales up 5.5%.

The retailer’s strong performance over Christmas also helped bolster its trading over the quarter. The final 13 weeks of the year saw total food sales rise 0.6%, up 0.3% on an LFL basis.

Its chilled seasonal desserts, including profiteroles, tiramisu and lemoncello were also top-sellers, with sales up 29%.