Take-home grocery sales in Ireland increased by 3.4% in the four weeks to 9 June 2024. Although the milder-than-usual weather impacted barbecue category sales, it increased sales of other categories like winter warmers, according to the latest data from Kantar. In June there was a boost in trips to stores, up 1.5%, along with an increase in average prices of 1.3%. However, volume per trip fell, down 1.2% compared to the same period last year – and a change from last month’s modest rise of 0.2%.
Emer Healy, Business Development Director at Kantar, explains: “With less than typical sunny weather this June, it meant shoppers were not cracking open the barbeques or dining outdoors. As a result, they spent a combined €1.6m less on chilled salads, burgers, grills and sausages than this time last year. We did see some bank holiday weekend indulgence with sales of savoury snacks, confectionary and beer and lager up 16%,11.9% and 13.1% respectively. However, there was an increase in soup sales and home baking, which added €1 million and €500k to the tills, respectively.”
Grocery inflation stands at 2.5% in the 12 weeks to the 9 June 2024, down a staggering 13 percentage points versus June 2023 – the lowest inflation level since March 2022.
Like previous months, inflation continues to fall offering shoppers something of a lifeline in terms of lower prices. Despite this, consumers in Ireland remain on the hunt for value in the market with over 25% of value sales on promotion.
Home-grown brands a favourite among Irish households
Sales of own label performed strongly, growing ahead of the total market at 4.9% year-on-year and holding value share just over 48%, with shoppers spending an additional €73.5m year-on-year. Premium own label ranges continued to perform well with shoppers spending an additional €16.8m on these lines, up 11.4% compared to this time last year. However, sales of brands were also up by 3.9% over the 12 weeks with shoppers spending an additional €57.9m on branded lines.
“The great news is that Irish consumers value home-grown brands. Our latest Brand Footprint report shows that four out of the top five most chosen brands in Ireland are Irish brands, with the average Irish household buying a portfolio of 77 FMCG brands in a year – well above the global average of 66. This shows clearly how brands are still an important choice for Irish consumers”, comments Emer Healy.
Online sales were up 16.3% year-on-year with shoppers spending an additional €26.6 million on the platform. Larger trips contributed an additional €8.9 million, with more frequent trips contributing €12.4 million to the platform’s growth.
Irish retailer performance update
Dunnes holds 23.4% market share with growth of 6.2% year-on-year. Dunnes’ growth stems mainly from more frequent trips but also larger trips, which contributed a combined €20.8 million to their overall performance.
Tesco holds 23.1% of the market, up 6.2% year-on-year. Tesco saw a strong increase in trips to stores up 7.2% year-on-year, which contributed an additional €51.1 million to their overall performance.
SuperValu holds 20.5% of the market with 2.8% growth. SuperValu shoppers make the most trips in store when compared to all retailers, an average of 21.6 trips, and the retailer also saw the strongest growth in volume per trip amongst all retailers, up 8.3%. SuperValu was the only retailer to attract new shoppers into its stores in the latest 12-week period, contributing a combined €66.3 million additional to their overall performance.
Lidl holds 13.9% share of the market with growth of 5.6% year-on-year. Lidl saw the most frequent trips amongst all retailers, and this contributed an additional €38.5 million to overall performance. Aldi holds 11.8% market share, with more frequent trips contributing an additional €12.2 million to their overall performance.
