Irish households spent an extra €1,000 on groceries since start of pandemic

Shoppers spent an extra €151.1m in February

The closures of bars, restaurants and cafes combined with working from home have led to a surge in grocery sales. Picture: iStock

Irish shoppers have now spent an extra €2bn on take-home groceries since the start of the pandemic, with the average household bill increasing by €1,000 this year.

Latest figures from analysts Kantar show take-home grocery sales grew by 17.7% over the past four weeks, the highest level since November.

February was another record-breaking month for online grocery, accounting for 6.3% of all sales increasing significantly compared with the pre-pandemic level of 2.7%.

Emer Healy, retail analyst at Kantar said the figures show how the months of restaurant and bar closures, working from home and homeschooling have added up. 

"All those extra meals and snacks at home have led to an extra €2bn spent on take-home groceries, including Irish shoppers splashing out €7.6m on tea and €19.5m on instant coffee to get their fix at home. Totting it all up, the average household grocery bill has increased by €1,000 this year," she said.

Working from home and social distancing has meant a fall in demand for cold and flu remedies, with sales of cold treatments dropping 55%, cough liquids 60% and lozenges 42% in the past 12 weeks.

February brought Valentines’ Day and Shrove Tuesday, and consumers continued to make the most of events they could safely celebrate at home in lockdown. They spent an additional €3.2m on boxed chocolates in the past 12 weeks and sales of flour, eggs and syrup grew by 56%, 21% and 14% respectively ahead of Shrove Tuesday.