(Reuters) – Australian supermarket chain Coles Group On Thursday, the OTC reported that sales rose 1.6% in the first quarter. This was due to consumers stocking up on essential household items during new lockdowns.

Coles Group, along with its larger rival Woolworths Group, have both benefited from the on-and-off lockdowns which over the years sent consumers into an buying frenzy. Large cities like Melbourne had to be subjected to some of most severe COVID-19 curbs.

Coles stated in a statement that the lockdowns led to a rise in local shopping, at the cost of shopping centers, and increased demand for online shopping.

This grocery chain, which dates back to 100 years ago, reported A$9.76 Billion ($7.33 Billion) total sales in its quarter. That’s up from A$9.61Billion last year. It beat a UBS estimate at A$9.65 billion.

Woolworths claimed that October sales were slowing down due to loosening restrictions. Coles however stated that comparable sales in its first quarter of the second quarter for the supermarket division were roughly the same as the previous quarter.

The group’s largest earnings came from Coles supermarket sales which rose 1.8% to A$8.62billion from the previous year.

($1 = 1.3307 Australian dollars)