Grocery price inflation is continuing to rise and has now hit a record high of 16.8%, according to the latest data published by Kantar.

This means that the annual grocery bill is set to increase by €1,211 if the shopping habits of consumers remain unchanged.

In the 12 weeks to March 19, 2023, take-home grocery sales increased by 9.5%, contributing an additional €268 million to the overall market performance.

Kantar said that shoppers returned to stores more often and the average price per pack rose by 13.9% year-on-year.

St. Patrick’s Day, Mother’s Day and the Irish rugby team winning the Six Nations Grand Slam all contributed to the highest footfall in supermarkets since March 2020.

Grocery

Emer Healy, senior retail analyst at Kantar, said: “March was a busy month for Irish consumers with plenty of events and opportunities to celebrate.

“We also welcomed longer, brighter days so we saw shoppers visiting stores more often. Shopper visits grew 13% year-on-year, which is the highest level of footfall since March 2020.

“In actual terms this means shoppers made two additional trips to stores in March,” she said.

Kantar grocery FSAI grocery - Food miles Kantar reports change in consumer behaviour amid price inflation

Healy added that “consumers are opting to shop little and often to help manage their household budgets”.

“Basket mission really drives growth for the overall market – up 25.1% – with shoppers spending an additional €119.6 million year-on-year.

“The indulgent mission grew 17.7% year-on-year, as shoppers made more indulgent trips in line with the festivities in March,“ she said.

Kantar

According to Kantar, the St. Patrick’s Day celebration resulted in a 10.4% boost in grocery sales in March.

Consumers spent €3.5 million on savoury snacks, while €4.4 million was spent on soft drinks, while sales of Guinness increased by almost 7%.

Shoppers also began to stock up ahead of Easter with an additional 20% spent on chocolate.

The Kantar data shows that the purchase of supermarket own labels has increased by 34.5% year-on-year with shoppers spending €18 million more on these ranges.

Online grocery sales also remained strong over the 12-week period, up 2.6%, with shoppers spending an additional €3.9 million online year-on-year.

The report shows that Dunnes had the highest market share in the 12-week period at 23.2%, followed by Tesco at 22.1%, SuperValu at 20.6%, Lidl at 12.3% and Aldi with 12.3%.