Covid boom continues for Irish supermarkets with €12.8bn in annual sales 

Supermarket sales were down by more than 5% from the previous Christmas but were almost 11% ahead of the festive period two years ago before the onset of the pandemic. 

The boom for Irish supermarkets during the pandemic has continued, with sales over Christmas running at €1.1bn even as the closely watched measure of grocery prices rose by 1.2%, according to an industry-wide survey. 

Data from market researcher Kantar show that Irish supermarkets took in €1.1bn in the four weeks to St Stephen's Day and posted €3.1bn in sales over the 12 weeks that takes in the longer run-up to Christmas. 

Sales were down by more than 5% from the previous Christmas but were almost 11% ahead of the festive period two years ago before the onset of the pandemic. 

At €12.8bn, spending at supermarkets for the full 52 weeks was understandably down from the €13bn notched up in sales during the first year of the Covid crisis.

That's because for long periods in 2020, many fashion retailers, restaurants, and pubs were forced to close, while supermarkets as essential retailers remained open.

Ireland's five large supermarket groups – Dunnes, Musgrave-owned SuperValu, Tesco, Lidl, and Aldi – commanded a share of almost 90% of the €12.8bn spent in all Irish supermarkets last year. 

Almost 17% of households in the Republic bought their supermarket groceries online over Christmas, according to Kantar.  

The annual rate of grocery price inflation over Christmas at Irish supermarkets was running at 1.2% – the highest rate since last February, it said. 

30,000 grocery items surveyed

The researcher surveys 30,000 grocery items bought by households who live in the Republic and includes spending by households in supermarkets in the North. Supermarkets in the North are, by and large, owned by the same large multiple chains. 

Grocery and food prices are again being closely watched around the world for any sign that inflation is becoming embedded in economies. 

The huge hikes in wholesale energy prices have raised concerns that despite a commitment to hold household mortgage and business interest rates at record low levels, that the ECB will be forced to raise rates to temper inflation pressures. Many economists say it will become clearer whether the ECB will be able to hold the line against early rate hikes. 

Kantar said cheese and confectionary, premium supermarket brands, and non- and low-alcoholic drinks sold particularly well this Christmas.  

“Pubs were only open for three of the final 12 weeks of 2020, which resulted in unusually high sales of alcohol at supermarkets and independent shops," said Emer Healy, senior retail analyst at Kantar. 

"It was always going to be difficult to match that this year, but the numbers are still positive compared with pre pandemic," she added. 

Overall, Kantar said consumer spending at supermarkets remained strong.

"While this Christmas felt more normal than last, it was still very much a pandemic year. Consumer confidence was high thanks to the vaccine rollout, but shoppers were still wary of rising Covid-19 cases, plus regular colds and flu," Ms Healy said.