In the four weeks to 4 September, the price of back-to-school essentials (bread, ham, cheese, yoghurt, cereal and milk) rose by 19.5%, making a basket of these staples €2 more expensive.

The most basic items saw some of the biggest jumps with bread up 20%, ham up 12%, milk up 26%, yoghurt up 17%. Collectively, shoppers spent an additional €17m on these products compared to the same period last year, driven entirely by price as volumes were down 6%.

Emer Healy, Kantar senior analyst, comments: “Grocery price inflation is at its highest level since Kantar began tracking grocery price inflation in May 2008. As food and drink prices continue to climb alongside increasing pressure on other household bills, the impact is unavoidable for many Irish consumers.

“The average annual grocery bill could go from €6,985 to €7,753 – that’s an additional €768 a year that Irish consumers will have to spend if they do not make any changes to what they currently buy or where they shop”

As consumers search for better value, the biggest winners are retailer own-label lines. In the latest 12 weeks, sales of own-label products are up 5.8%, representing an additional €72m year-on-year. Value own-label ranges, the very cheapest products in the range, saw even stronger growth up 21.4% compared to the same period last year as shoppers spent an additional €10.2m.

The cost-of-living crunch has also encouraged an influx of new shoppers to go online. In the last four weeks alone, volumes were up as shoppers increased their packs per trip by 2.9% contributing an additional €6.8m to the overall market performance. More than one-in-10 Irish shoppers (12%) now purchase their groceries online.

Sales value rises at grocery giants

Appealing to the need for better deals has helped all major retailers to grow in the last 12 weeks. Market leader Dunnes (22.3% value share) saw growth of 7.2% year-on-year, helped by an influx of new shoppers (up 4.7%), and an increase in shopping trips (up 1.7%). Dunnes traditionally performs well at back-to-school times and experienced strong own-label growth of 13% year-on-year.

Tesco sits at 21.9% share, with sales up 3.9% compared to last year as shoppers return to store more often (6.6%), while SuperValu (21.4% share) continues to attract more trips than any other retailer, with an average of 21.5 trips made in the last 12 weeks. Lidl holds 13.2% share growing 3.5% year-on-year, while rival low-cost retailer Aldi sits at 12.7% share an increase of 1.4% as a result of existing shoppers returning to store more often.

The post Back to school budgets hit by 11.9% increase in price of lunchbox staples: Kantar appeared first on Ireland's Forecourt & Convenience Retailer.

The company says the decline reflects the fact that sales are still being compared against the extraordinary levels of shopping seen during the lockdowns in 2020, and spending remains 9.4% higher than in 2019.

Emer Healy, retail analyst at Kantar, comments: “It’s a nuanced picture in the grocery market at the moment.  The lifting of social restrictions and high vaccination rates mean shoppers are more comfortable going out and visiting physical stores, but they also mean people’s social calendars are filling up again.

“More socialising means we’re living less regimented lives, and with more eating at restaurants, pubs and on the go, the reliance which many had on supermarkets to get their meals last year is starting to fade.

“That is evidenced in the latest four week ending data, which shows supermarket trips are falling by 4.5% year on year and the amount bought per visit is also down 0.9%.”

Busier routines and less time to shop in store means that many people have turned to online shopping.  The latest four weeks saw online sales jump 7.1% year on year, adding €3 million to the market.

Loosening restrictions

The further loosening of social restrictions on 22 October is not expected to herald major changes for the grocery sector.

Emer Healy says: “The relaxation of restrictions in Ireland has been a gradual process and people have already been enjoying increasing freedoms, with knock-on effects at the supermarket tills.  We expect many office workers to continue to work flexibly, which will mean a mix of both in home and on-the-go eating at lunchtime.  People are already back visiting pubs and restaurants too, so there shouldn’t be a major change in that sector either.”

Shoppers are certainly eager to make the most of relaxed restrictions to enjoy calendar milestones this year.

“People will be making up for lost time with their Halloween festivities this autumn.  While there was no celebration in 2020, it looks like spooky season is back with a bang,” Emer Healy comments.

“Sales of pumpkins soared 32.1% over the past 12 weeks compared to last year, while sugar confectionery and share bags of chocolate are up 6.4% and 15.3% respectively, as people get ready for trick or treaters.”

Inflation

The past 12 weeks brought the highest levels of inflation in the grocery market since March 2021.  Prices are 0.6% higher than a year ago, with healthcare, hot beverages and frozen food the most affected categories – up 8.0%, 5.1% and 4.6% respectively.

Despite prices going up, consumer confidence is high.  Dunnes was the only retailer to recruit new shoppers this period as it and Tesco found favour through more premium items.

SuperValu continues to hold the largest share of the grocery market this month at 22.3%.  Its shoppers visited more frequently than any other retailer – on average 21 times in the past 12 weeks.

Aldi was boosted by store openings across the country and welcomed a second consecutive month with a record-breaking share – now at 12.8%.  It grew especially well in Connaught and Ulster, with sales up 6.9%, the strongest among all retailers.  Lidl held its share steady at 12.7% this period.

The post Irish shoppers go online as pace of life picks up, Kantar reveals appeared first on Ireland's Forecourt & Convenience Retailer.