Grocery price inflation in Ireland, which stands at 11.5% in the 12 weeks to 3 September, dropped for the fourth month in a row and reached its lowest level since September 2022, according to the latest data from Kantar.
Emer Healy, business development director at Kantar, commented, "This slowdown in grocery inflation is welcome news for consumers. [...] Although the rate of inflation is still relatively high, it is the lowest level we have seen in the last 12 months, and we expect it to continue to fall over the coming months."
Take-home grocery sales increased by 7.9% in the four weeks to 3 September 2023 as the average price per pack increased by 8.8%, data showed.
Shoppers visited stores more often during the month, making one additional trip versus previous month. However, they bought one item less per month on average.
Other Trends
In the latest 12 weeks, the sales of own-label products were up 11.9%, which was more than double the sales growth of brands at 5%.
Value own-label ranges saw the strongest growth, up 17.8%, with shoppers spending an additional €10.3 million year on year as they look to save money at the tills.
The value share of own-labels hit 47.9%, while the same for brands stood at 46.6%.
Irish shoppers spent an additional €7.4 million on biscuits, €1 million on breakfast cereals, €2.2 million on cheese and €947,000 on bread as parents stocked up for breakfast and packed lunch ahead of schools reopening in September.
Online sales reported 18.5% year-on-year growth in the latest 12 weeks as shoppers spent an additional €27 million on the channel.
Sales were characterised more frequent trips (up 11.3%) and 17.4% of Irish households buying their groceries online.
With back-to-school preparations in full swing, young families went online for their groceries, spending an additional €13 million compared to last year, Kantar added.
Top Irish Retailers
In terms of value, Dunnes Stores, Tesco and Lidl all grew ahead of the total market in the latest four weeks.
Dunnes Stores emerged as Ireland's top retailer with a 23% market share and year-on-year growth of 11.1%. It saw the strongest boost in new shoppers, up 3 percentage points year on year.
Tesco secured the second position with 22.6% of the market and growth of 11.5% year-on-year.
The retailer witnessed the highest frequency growth of 16.1% year on year, which contributed an additional €96.1 million to its overall performance.
With a market share of 20.6%, SuperValu ranked third as shoppers visited its stores most frequently, making 21.3 trips on average.
Lidl's market share stood at 13.6%, with growth of 11.6% year on year, while Aldi held 12.5% of the market, registering growth of 5.6% year on year.
