Irish shoppers spent an additional €2.6 million on fresh vegetables and €1.9 million on fresh fruit last month, according to new figures published today (Monday, October 14) by Kantar.

The latest research suggests grocery sales were boosted by “back to school” purchases as families returned to preparing school lunches and autumn dinners.

According to Kantar take-home grocery sales increased by 6.1% in the four weeks leading up to September 29.

“In September, as families got ready for school, sales volume increased by 3.6%, as people shopped more frequently, with a 1.5% rise in shopping trips.

“Grocery inflation stands at 2.67%, representing a slight decrease of 0.09 percentage points from the previous period,” it also outlined.

Shoppers

Including the additional €2.6 million spent on fresh vegetables and €1.9 million on fresh fruit last month shoppers also spent an additional €1.4 million on ambient bakery breads, nearly €1 million more on frozen goods, and €1.5 million more on soft drink carbonates.

Kantar also believes that some shoppers got an “early start preparing for the Halloween season” because of a significant €3 million increase in spending on confectionery in the four weeks leading up to September 29.

Eimear Faughnan, Kantar’s worldpanel head of retail, added: “As shoppers returned to their back-to-school routines, they continued to purchase family-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%.”

Supermarkets

The Irish Grocery Market Share for October 2024 report also suggests that online sales have increased by 9.6% year-on-year, with shoppers spending an additional €17 million this way.

According to Kantar retailers are driving this growth by “offering attractive online incentives including money off vouchers and free delivery” which has encouraged shoppers to return more frequently.

Based on latest data Dunnes holds a 24% market share and saw value growth of 9.5% year-on-year.

“Dunnes has the strongest frequency growth among all retailers, at 9.3% year-on-year, which contributed an additional €67 million to its overall performance,” Kantar outlined.

Tesco holds 23.4% of the market, with value up 10% year-on-year – driven mainly came from recruiting new shoppers, alongside existing shoppers making more frequent and larger trips.

SuperValu holds 19.6% of the market and saw growth of 1.7%. Its shoppers made more trips in-store than those of any other retailer—an average of 24 trips.

Meanwhile Lidl holds a 13.7% and Aldi holds an 11.7% market share.