Irish grocery prices rising faster than British prices

Grocery prices in Irish supermarkets are rising significantly faster than prices in Britain, a major survey has found.

Market researcher Kantar found prices across the 30,000 grocery items it regularly monitors in Irish supermarkets rose 2% in the 12 weeks to September 8 from the same period in 2018.

Irish grocery inflation is down from 2.5% during the summer but compares with the 1% annual increase Kantar recorded in supermarkets in Britain in the latest 12-week period.

Its latest survey also found Irish households spent just over €2.5bn on grocery items in that period, up 2.7% from a year earlier. In contrast, its British survey found that the value of sales there had risen only slightly, while sales by volume were flat.

In Ireland, Dunnes extended its lead over its four big supermarket rivals, securing a 22.2% share of the €2.5bn spent on groceries in the 12 weeks. It was followed by Tesco and SuperValu, which both winning shares of 21.4%.

Aldi continued its growth spurt to secure 12.5% of the market ahead of Lidl’s 11.9%.

SuperValu has returned to growth following two periods of negative growth and these 12 weeks represent its slowest share decline since September 2018.

"Following a similar trend to the overall market, its shoppers have been making fewer, larger shops and taking home nearly one more item on average per trip,” said Charlotte Scott, consumer insight director at Kantar.

“It might be too soon to call these improved performances from Tesco and SuperValu a fightback, but it will be welcome news given the recent success of Dunnes, Aldi, and Lidl. Looking ahead to next month, it’s likely that this will contribute to all retailers being in growth for the first time since June,” she said.

Kantar said supermarkets were already offering deals on Christmas chocolates and advent calendars.

And its figures again show the large share (over 89%) of the grocery spend that the top five largest supermarkets command in the Republic.

Other retailers of grocery items, which Kantar says includes M&S, Boots, Spar, Centra, greengrocers, butchers, as well as cross-border retailers, lost market share in the period.