€1.5bn spent on groceries over Christmas as prices continue to rise

Dunnes Stores held the largest share of consumer grocery spend over Christmas at 24.7%, with Tesco narrowly behind in second. 

Annual grocery inflation hit 6.25% during the December period as Irish consumers spend €1.5bn in supermarkets over the Christmas period, new data from Worldpanel by Numerator shows.

According to the company, the latest take-home grocery sales in Ireland rose by 6% in the four weeks to December 28, with overall sales reaching a record of almost €1.5bn. Grocery sales peaked on Tuesday December 23, at €107m in sales, a record daily spend.

Grocery price inflation stood at 6.25% as of December 28 — up from 6% earlier in the month. The overall rate of inflation during November was running at 3.2% — the latest figure available from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Business development director at Worldpanel by Numerator Emer Healy said in December shoppers returned to stores more often and on average made 23 trips in-store to pick up Christmas essentials.

“Irish shoppers spent on average €770 at supermarkets during the festive period, an additional €32 compared to 2024,” she said.

An extra €6.6m was spent on seasonal chocolates and biscuits. Sales for Champagne and sparkling wine jumped nearly 22%, while the low and no-alcohol category also benefitted, with an additional €1.9m spent on these ranges compared to last year.

“On the Christmas lunch menu this year, Brussels sprouts remained a firm favourite, with over 62% of households purchasing them. But we saw a slight decline in fresh turkey sales, down 2.3%, while shoppers spent an additional €3m on chicken, possibly due to cost,” Ms Healy said.

Sales of own-label brands grew over the 12 weeks to December 28 by just under 4%, with an additional €65.7m spent on them, while €167.7m was spent on premium own-label products — an increase of €12m year-on-year.

In the three-month period, sales of branded items hit €2bn for the first time as “shoppers turned to their festive favourites, including an additional €9m spent on branded cheese, antipasti, bread, home baking and savoury snacks”, the company said.

Brands accounted for nearly 52.4% of value sales over the 12-week period, with shoppers spending an additional €131m compared to last year.

Dunnes Stores came out the winner when it comes to the share of consumer spending during the festive period, with 24.7% of the total market, narrowly edging out Tesco which held 24.5%.

Dunnes Stores experienced an overall sales growth of 4.9% year-on-year, with customers making larger trips, contributing an additional €5.9m to their overall performance.

Tesco saw an influx of new shoppers which contributed an additional €35.6m to the grocer’s overall performance.

SuperValu held a market share of 19.7%.

Lidl held 13% of the market, with customers spending €25.6m more compared to last year. Aldi holds 10.3% market share, generating an additional €21m in sales.

Online continued to grow at a significantly faster rate compared to the previous month, up 9.8% year-on-year to take 6.1% value share of the market. Shoppers spent an additional €21.7m online during the festive period, helped by larger and more frequent trips which contributed a combined €6.9m to their overall performance.