Grocery inflation 'nudges' cost of Christmas meal for four to almost €31

Irish grocery prices rose 1.2% in recent weeks, as the general hike in energy costs, supply chain woes and Brexit disruptions may be catching up with supermarkets, market research suggests.

Irish grocery prices rose 1.2% in recent weeks, as the general hike in energy costs, supply chain woes and Brexit disruptions may be catching up with supermarkets, market research suggests.     

Market researcher Kantar said it was its highest inflation reading since February, with prices of some Christmas dinner favourites beginning to "nudge up". 

"The price of a Christmas meal for four now stands at €30.97, which is 4.3% higher than it was last year," said Emer Healy, retail analyst at Kantar. 

The Kantar figures for grocery prices covers 30,000 items and are closely watched. 

CSO figures last week showed prices of all goods and services across the Irish economy climbed 5.3% in November, driven by sharply higher energy and rents. 

In the latest 12 weeks to the end of November, Kantar said Irish supermarkets took in almost €2.83bn in sales, down 6.4% from the same period last year, as some sort of normal pattern returned to grocery shopping in 2021. 

However, Irish grocery sales were still much higher, by almost 9%, from the same period on 2019, before the onset of the Covid crisis. 

Sales over the last 52 weeks were running at €12.76bn, slightly down from €12.82bn a year earlier.       

The big five supermarket chains – Dunnes, SuperValu, Tesco, Lidl, and Aldi – between them account for over 91% of all sales. 

Kantar said that with a market share of 22.8% of the €2.83bn, Dunnes sold the most groceries in the latest period, ahead of SuperValu and Tesco on shares of 22.1% and 21.4%, respectively.  

Kantar figures last week showed British grocery prices rose 3.2% in the past month. It calculated the average cost of a meal for four in Britain was £27.48, up 3.4% in the year.