Big supermarket groups ‘not competing’

CONSUMER watchdogs yesterday accused some of the big supermarkets of failing to compete for custom.

A survey showed their prices were almost identical for 45 of the country’s most popular groceries.

The National Consumer Agency compared prices in Dunnes Stores, Tesco and Superquinn. It found the overall cost of a basket of staple goods varied by a mere €2.20 or 1.62%.

Dunnes was cheapest with Tesco next and Superquinn third.

“They’re either watching each other’s prices and following each other or, we feel, there’s a lack of competition among the major multiples in this country,” said NCA acting chief executive Ann Fitzgerald.

The NCA also compared the prices of the three to those charged by SuperValu in Cork and Dublin, finding just 2.1% — or €2.26 — difference in a basket of 36 key goods.

Publishing the survey findings yesterday, Ms Fitzgerald asked whether a leading overseas supermarket group — such as Britain’s Asda chain of family-oriented supermarkets — would shake up the Irish grocery market.

She said the survey’s findings on prices were worrying, adding she would be forwarding the findings to the Competition Authority — which is investigating whether the grocery market enjoys healthy competition.

“If these findings [about similar prices] run across all product lines in the supermarkets, then it would be a very worrying trend for us,” she said.

NCA inspectors last month visited 13 stores, ranging from supermarkets to small convenience stores, and compared the prices of the 58 most popular branded goods.

Among them were Avonmore milk, Brennans bread, Lyons tea, Charleville cheddar cheese and Guinness stout.

Of the 58 products, the NCA found 45 in Dunnes, Tesco and Superquinn, the latter primarily concentrated in Leinster with three stores in Munster.

The basket of 45 came out cheapest in Dunnes at €135.61. Tesco was second at €137.56 and Superquinn third on €137.81.

Between the cheapest and costliest supermarket was a difference of just €2.20 overall.

Among the 45 products, the prices of 21 — or 47% — were exactly the same.

These included Brennans bread at €1.35, Pampers nappies at €9.49, Kerrygold butter at €1.84 and Colgate Total toothpaste at €3.19.

Only in 10 did the NCA find price differences of up to 23% with a six-pack of Johnston, Mooney and O’Brien bread rolls €1.53 in Dunnes and Superquinn but €1.88 in Tesco.

The NCA also compared supermarket prices to those charged by chain stores such as Eurospar, Centra, and Spar, finding that prices can be 20% higher overall in convenience stores.

The NCA was able to compare only a handful of the 58 products as the supermarkets and convenience stores did not always stock the same goods.

Confirming a Central Statistics Office report last month about the high cost of living in Dublin, the NCA survey found grocery prices in the capital were between 0.5% and 10.3% more expensive than the rest of the country.

Ms Fitzgerald rejected claims that the scope of the NCA survey was too narrow to be of use to consumers, saying the poll was a trial run ahead of a full survey in December, which will include household-named goods, fresh produce and own-label goods.

On the findings so far, she said consumers would be better off shopping in supermarkets and using convenience stores to “top up”.

“If they want to save money then consumers should do their weekly shopping in the multiples [supermarkets] and use convenience stores for what they are — for convenience.”