UK's Sainsbury's still expects Middle East conflict to add to inflation

LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) - Sainsbury's, Britain's second largest supermarket group, expects more food inflation to come through as a result of the Middle East conflict, its boss said on Tuesday.

"There is pressure in the system for sure and there will be some inflation to come through," CEO Simon Roberts told reporters after Sainsbury's updated on first quarter trading.

"We always said it would take until the mid-summer to see the extent to which ... that will feed through, particularly in fresh food," he said.

But Roberts said he was encouraged that so far this year food inflation had not risen "as significantly as some had expected" and noted that Sainsbury's own inflation in its first quarter was lower than that in the previous quarter.

British grocery inflation slowed to 3.0% in the four weeks to June 14, researcher Worldpanel said last week, while earlier this month, industry leader Tesco said that so far Iran war-driven inflation "hasn't materialised as an issue".

Roberts said Britain's record June temperatures last week drove "very strong" trade in fresh food and seasonal categories such as deli and barbecue.

He said the hot weather and the soccer World Cup had also boosted online demand.

Roberts added that the group's Argos business also had a "very strong" week, driven by demand for fans and paddling pools.

(Reporting by James Davey; editing by Sarah Young)