Grocery prices jump 5% as inflation surges

Good weather in May results in a €50,000 jump in suncare sales

Shoppers spent an additional €124m on promotional lines over the last 12 weeks.

Grocery prices increased almost 5% in the past year with the rate of inflation rising by 2.4 percentage points to 4.96%.

Latest data from Kantar shows Irish shoppers spent an extra €73m on groceries in May, with the warmer weather, longer days and time spent outdoors driving consumer spending.

“Rising prices are influencing both sales performance and consumer behaviour,” according to Emer Healy, Business Development Director at Kantar. “Although households have been adjusting their spending for some time now, what we’re seeing is a clear ‘tipping point’ when inflation goes above 3% to 4%. This is when shoppers really start to feel it in their wallets, and they change their behaviour."

“As a result, supermarkets are having to be more creative in the way they attract shoppers in-store and online – offering quality products at the right price.”

Kantar said shoppers spent an additional €124m on promotional lines over the last 12 weeks compared to the same period last year. While the total promotional market grew by 17.6%, key categories including table sauces, skin care, deodorant, soft drinks, frozen confectionery and chocolate all grew ahead of this with double-digit growth.

However, branded products still hold a higher value share of the total market at 47.4%, compared to own label with 47.1%. Premium own label currently holds 4.1% value share of the total market compared to 3.9% last year.

Kantar said that during May, shoppers were in-store an average of 22.3 times, contributing an additional €17m to the market’s overall performance. 

Their analysis clearly shows the impact of the recent good weather. “Shoppers spent an additional €14m on typical summer fare, including sausages, coleslaw, antipasti, potato salad, non-alcoholic drinks, fabs & mixers, pickles, beer & cider and ice cream," Ms Healy said. "With shoppers taking full advantage of the sunshine, we saw an additional €50,000 spent on suncare compared to this time last year.”

Online now accounts for 6% of supermarket sales, with shoppers spending an additional €15.9m through this channel. Dunnes Stores maintains its top position with the largest market share, followed by Tesco, Supervalu, Lidl and Aldi.