Grocery sales hit five-year high in last quarter

The Irish grocery market enjoyed its best quarterly period in more than five years, in the past 12 weeks, with combined sales across the main players rising by 2.1% on an annualised basis.

Latest data from consumer insights agency, Kantar Worldpanel, covering the 12-week period to October 11, shows that while competition is, as expected, intensifying ahead of the festive season, consumers are generally loosening up in their grocery buying habits.

“The growth in sales, this period, was ahead of the rate of inflation, indicating that consumers are becoming less restrictive in what they buy and adding extra items to their baskets,” noted Kantar director, David Berry.