Back to school spending drives up grocery sales
Fresh 29 €2 Additional And Spent Up 9m €1 Fruit Four On More 6m On The To Pared To Previous Vegetables The Leading In Irish Fresh Households Month An Weeks September
Take-home grocery sales increased by 6.1% during September with families seeing schools resume as grocery price inflation remained mostly flat, new data from market research firm Kantar shows.
Overall, Irish households spent an additional €2.6m on fresh vegetables and €1.9m more on fresh fruit in the four weeks leading up to September 29, compared to the previous month. Spending on bread increased by €1.4m while an extra €1m was spent on frozen goods.
Kantar’s head of retail Eimear Faughnan said as back to school routines resumed, families continued to purchase their favourite brands.
“Brand sales grew by 8% compared to last year, outperforming own-label products once again this period, increasing their value share of total spending to 48.2%,” she said.
Own-label ranges also saw their value sales increase by 3.9% this month compared to last year.
Some shoppers also got an early start preparing for the Halloween season, which was reflected in a significant €3m increase in spending on confectionery.
In the 12 weeks to the end of September, annual grocery price inflation stood at 2.76% — down just 0.09% from the previous report at the start of the month.
In terms of share of consumer spending, Dunnes Stores retained a 24% market share in the three months to the end of September. Tesco holds 23.4% of the market while SuperValu holds 19.6%.
Lidl held a 13.7% share of total spend while Aldi held an 11.7% share.