Grocery inflation in Ireland has hit 12.4%, a new record high, according to the latest market share data from Kantar, with a third of shoppers now saying they are 'struggling to make ends meet'.
The research firm said that take-home grocery sales increased by 3.6% in the 12 weeks to 3 October, with price per pack increasing by 8.6% in the period, which means shoppers spent an additional €99.1 million compared to the same period last year.
The rising cost of staples is hitting households particularly hard, Kantar said, with the average price of butter, milk and bread now 28% higher than at this time last year.
Highest Level Ever
“Grocery price inflation is the highest level seen since Kantar started tracking the data," commented Emer Healy, senior retail analyst at Kantar.
"As food and drink prices continue to climb alongside other financial pressures, 32% of shoppers in Ireland admit they are ‘struggling’ to make ends meet, a figure that has increased from 23% in March of this year. The average annual grocery bill will go from €6,999 to €7,867 if consumers don’t make any changes to what they buy and how they shop to cut costs."
Supermarket private-label lines are a major beneficiary of the current pressure on household budgets – sales of retailer own-label lines jumped 7.2% in the latest 12-week period, with shoppers spending an additional €88.3 million year-on-year.
Market Leaders
In terms of the top performing supermarkets during the period, Dunnes Stores currently holds the highest market share, of 22.7%, seeing sales growth of 8.2% year-on-year, Kantar said.
Tesco holds 21.8% of the market, with SuperValu in third place, on 21.2% market share.
Elsewhere, the discounters continue to put in a solid performance, with Lidl on 13.1% share (+5.6% growth year-on-year) and Aldi holding 12.7% of the market (+2.4% growth year-on-year).
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest Retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
