An additional 15m supermarket trips were undertaken in Britain in the week to March 17 against the same week a month earlier as awareness of the coronavirus crisis caused UK shoppers to stock up on supplies, according to market research company Kantar.

There were early signs of Irish shoppers stocking up on hand sanitisers and bread just as official warnings about the spread of Covid-19 stepped up, according to the latest super- market spend figures.

‘Dry January’, as well as ‘Veganuary’, saw thousands of UK shoppers shun alcohol and meat.

Supermarkets sold almost €11.2bn in groceries last year, up by €310m from 2018, as the ‘big five’ grocers maintained their grip over the market.

Britain’s major supermarkets are forecast to report lacklustre Christmas sales this week, reflecting weak economic growth and comparisons with generally solid festive results in 2018.

Spending growth at Irish supermarkets surprisingly slowed in recent weeks but the slowdown may be shortlived, according to the latest survey of the stores.

Sterling fell yesterday after an opinion poll showed the Conservative Party’s lead is narrowing before the British election next month.

The Real Cost of Cancer Report, commissioned by the Society, highlights how ongoing illness disrupts employment, leading to an average drop in income of €1,527 per month.

Grocery price inflation has eased but is still running above the official rate of inflation across the economy, a major survey suggests.

While the prices on offer for beef animals at the factories remains unchanged this week, the throughput has been severely curtailed due to the ongoing protest by farmers at the factory gates.

Price inflation at Irish supermarkets has eased somewhat this summer but continues at a fair clip of 2.5% despite the rise in the euro against sterling, a leading survey of the big five grocers suggests.

Shoppers spent €2.49bn at the tills at supermarkets in the 12 weeks to mid-July, while grocery price inflation eased but remained at an elevated level of 2.8%.

Shoppers spent €2.49bn at the tills at supermarkets in the 12 weeks to mid-July, while grocery price inflation eased but remained at an elevated level of 2.8%.

Less than half of the public is satisfied with the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's performance in the Brexit process.

The fortunes of supermarkets are diverging on either side of the Irish Sea, with UK grocers posting their first fall in sales since June three years ago and Irish supermarkets adding sales and increasing prices.

The annual rate of grocery price inflation in Irish supermarkets accelerated to 2.9% in recent weeks, the highest since October 2014, according to a new survey.

New figures from Kantar show that the Irish grocery market grew by 4.2% over the 12 weeks to May 19.

A strong Twitter presence didn't translate to an improved election performance for Sinn Féin.

The prices of Irish groceries rose by an annual 2.6% over the Easter period, the fastest since August 2016.

Irish people spent €208.2 million during Easter week as the grocery market saw record spending, according to new data.

Sainsbury’s, reeling from last week’s decision by the UK regulator to block its takeover of rival Asda, was alone among Britain’s big four supermarket groups in seeing sales fall in the latest 12-week period, industry data has shown.