Tayto crisps, Cadbury chocolate and Kerrygold butter are the brands Irish emigrants miss the most, according to a recent survey.

German discount supermarket Aldi has reported a 36% increase in sales at its UK and Ireland operations for 2013, to £5.3bn (€6.8bn).

Hard-pressed families are flocking to Aldi and Lidl as the discount stores continue to increase their share in the Irish market.

Coca-Cola has held on to its position as the biggest selling brand in the Irish grocery market for 10 years, according to the latest Checkout Top 100 Brands report, produced by Checkout magazine in association with Nielsen.

Aldi has made the most gains in a recent survey on consumer spending.

Five times more shoppers are doing their main shop at budget supermarkets, Aldi and Lidl, than before the recession.

A survey by retail trade magazine Checkout revealed that 61% of 441 respondents said that they miss Tayto when overseas, with 34% claiming they miss the famous crisps “a lot”.

Two-thirds of consumers would be more likely to visit a store that stocked a wide range of Irish products, according to new research.

Supermarket chains are outspending the rest of the retail sector when it comes to marketing investment, with German discounters Lidl and Aldi showing the biggest increases in the last quarter.

The supermarket wars have spawned vegetable wars this Christmas.

Most consumers are buying their fresh meat, poultry, seafood and dairy products in supermarkets, rather than butchers, fishmongers or other specialist shops, according to a survey.

FOUR out of five retail and food executives are optimistic about the coming year, according to a survey at the 2012 Checkout Conference at the Four Seasons Hotel, Dublin.

IRELAND is an economic basket case in more ways than one.

A PINT of plain is still your only man as Guinness has cemented its status as the most popular drink in Irish pubs.

THE average price of a hotel room in Ireland has fallen below the €100 mark for the first time since the start of the recession.

The average price of a hotel room in Ireland slipped below the €100 mark in December, according to new data.

AVERAGE hotel prices have fallen by more than 40% as hoteliers pursue aggressive discounting in tough times, a trade magazine survey has found.

THREE-STAR hotels in Ireland cost €5 less per night than their one-star and two-star counterparts.