Shoppers veg out as shops slash food prices

The supermarket wars have spawned vegetable wars this Christmas.

In all big food retail chains, a battle royale is under way and much of it is taking place in the vegetable sections.

Savvy shoppers can cash in on the cut-price offers five days before Christmas, and freezing vegetables and then making and freezing pints of soup for the new year.

The Irish Farmers Association says producers are not being hit by the cuts to prices, as many supermarkets factor in the seasonal cuts when negotiating annual supply contracts.

It is thought that muchcut-price food is imported — even if it is in season in Ireland — as it can bought at lower prices overseas.

However, Checkout magazine editor Stephen Wynne-Jones said supermarkets probably spread their costs throughout the supermarket, so if vegetable prices are down, a few staples will rise in price.

“The way it works is that if one supermarket drops prices, the others all follow suit. You see a lot of price matching at the moment.

“Somebody somewhere at the top of one of the supermarkets must have decided that cheap vegetables were a good way of increasing profits and it’s just been copied by the others.”

* Dunnes Stores is leading the field with 15c carrots, potatoes, mangoes, avocados, red cabbage, leeks, and easy-peeler oranges.

* Aldi is selling potatoes, clementines, and carrots at 39c, and pineapple, Brussels sprouts, and melon at 25c.

* Lidl has carrots, parsnips, baby potatoes, and Brussels sprouts for 39c.

* Tesco offers four for €1 on cabbage, parsnips, melons, asparagus, lemons, and limes.

* Superquinn is selling baby potatoes, onions, carrots, and parsnips for 69c.

A recent Behaviour and Attitudes survey showed grocery shopping bills have been slashed in recent years, with weekly spend now at levels below 2002.

The survey also showed the spend per head among shoppers at Aldi/Lidl is €33 per person per week, the lowest spend of all.

Spend per head among Tesco and Dunnes shoppers is at roughly €39 and spend per head in SuperValu is significantly higher at €47.