Supported by the Local Enterprise Office, the venture helps young firms in the sector with education and mentorship.

Now in its 11th year, the programme has helped more than 1,000 producers from 26 counties to date.

The progamme enables businesses to showcase their products on SuperValu shelves and collectively those firms have generated €230 million in product sales through the supermarket group, supporting 1,500 jobs in the economy.

“Through this programme, producers are given an excellent opportunity to gain invaluable experience, while being given exposure in SuperValu stores throughout the country,” said Ciara McClafferty, Trading Director, SuperValu.

“At SuperValu, support of local and Irish producers is in our DNA, and our involvement in Food Academy further emphasises our dedication to fostering local talent and businesses within the food industry.”

“Consumer tastes and behaviours are constantly evolving, and the Food Academy is meeting these needs, being centred around nurturing innovative food and drink producers to deliver great tasting products for our shoppers and the Irish market.”

Among the businesses that have been through the academy is GoodBrew Coffee.

“The Food Academy programme has been instrumental in turning our coffee vision into reality, providing invaluable knowledge and support during the development of our initial products,” said Dee Schroeder, founder of GoodBrew Coffee.

“We’re thrilled to announce that our coffee creations will be available in SuperValu stores nationwide from April, marking a significant milestone for our business.”

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Grocery inflation stands at 4.7% in the 12 weeks to 18 February 2024, this is down 1.2 percentage point versus January (5.9%) – the tenth month in a row that inflation has fallen.

It’s great news for Irish consumers as inflation levels have reached their lowest point since April 2022. This gradual decline is expected to continue throughout 2024.

As consumers continue to closely manage their household budgets and look for the best value, it’s no surprise that own label goods continue to perform strongly. We saw this behaviour over the course of 2023 and it’s clear to see this is now a more established norm for shoppers into 2024.

Own label now holds 46% market share as sales of own label ranges grow ahead of the total market at 7.5% year-on-year, with shoppers spending an additional €112m year-on-year. Premium own-label ranges are performing strongly with shoppers spending an additional €19m on these lines, a 12.5% increase compared to this time last year. Sales of brand goods were also up 4.7% over the 12 weeks, growing slightly behind the total market.

Promotional levels increased after the post-Christmas slowdown as retailers looked for ways to encourage shoppers through the door. Over 27% of all spend in the 12 weeks to 18 February 2024 was made on items with some promotional offer, up 3.9% versus last year.  Dunnes, Tesco, Aldi and Lidl all saw strong growth in sales on promotion ahead of the total market.

Love is in the air

Love was most definitely in the air for Irish consumers this month with over 58% of Irish households purchasing boxed and gifting chocolates over the 12 weeks to 18 February 2024. We saw volumes of boxed and gifting chocolates up 3.7%, with shoppers spending an additional €1.7 million year-on-year. As Valentine’s Day fell mid-week this year and many shoppers managing household budgets, some people chose to show their love at home. Shoppers spent an additional €4.3 million on chilled ready meals, €1.8 million on chilled desserts and €916k on sparkling wine.

Valentine’s Day wasn’t the only celebration in February with many Irish shoppers indulging in Pancake Tuesday, which saw shoppers spend a combined additional €2 million on flour, eggs and chocolate spread.

Online sales were up 17.3% year-on-year with shoppers spending an additional €28.3 million online versus last year. The main contributor to this performance was more frequent trips, which contributed an additional €7.7m. Alongside frequency, the online channel continues to attract new shoppers with 18.4% of Irish households purchasing groceries online alongside picking up slightly more volume, up 0.5% year-on-year.

Irish retailer performance update

Dunnes, Tesco and Lidl all grew ahead of the total market in terms of value this month.

Dunnes has 24.3% market share with growth of 8.9% year-on-year. This growth stems through more frequent trips, up 5.9%, which contributed an additional €46.7 million to the overall performance.

Tesco holds 23.5% of the market, up 8.8% year-on-year. Tesco saw the strongest frequency growth amongst all retailers for another month in a row, up 12.4% year-on-year, which combined contributed an additional €91.8 million to the overall performance.

SuperValu holds 20.6% of the market and growth of 4.2%. SuperValu shoppers make the most trips in-store when compared to all retailers, an average of 20.9 trips.

Lidl has 12.8% share with growth of 7.2% year-on-year. More frequent trips contributed an additional €34.7 million to the retailer’s overall performance. Aldi holds 10.9% market share with more frequent trips and new shopper arrivals contributing an additional €5.2 million to the overall performance.

The average price per pack rose by 3.7%, while volume per trip fell by 3.1%.

However, the frequency of trips increased by 3%, year on year, remaining a key contributor to market growth.

Grocery inflation this period went down by 11.7 percentage points, compared to the same 12-week period last year.

It stands at 4.7% – down by 1.2 percentage points since January (5.9%) – making February the tenth consecutive month wherein grocery inflation has fallen.

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The two retailers made a €28m ($30.50m) investment to install a total of 667 reverse vending machines (RVMs) in 540 stores throughout the 26 counties of Ireland.

This extensive network of machines ensures that communities, both large and small, have convenient access to recycling facilities.

Starting next month, the RVMs will be available at 219 SuperValu and 321 Centra stores across the country.

Early trials of the RVMs in 2023 have led to the decision to place two machines in stores with higher footfall.

SuperValu and Centra project that the RVMs will collect more than 320 million containers annually, with an estimated 90% of recyclable polyethylene terephthalate bottles and aluminium cans sold in-store being returned.

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From disability charities and community playgroups to sports clubs and health and wellbeing organisations, groups from Belleek to Bushmills and Draperstown to Downpatrick received their £1000 donation before Christmas, to help fund a range of good works projects.

Desi Derby, Director of Marketing at SuperValu and Centra said: “At SuperValu and Centra, we’re committed to supporting local and we’ve been absolutely delighted to award a total of £40,000 among groups and charities across Northern Ireland through our Big Community Giveaway.

“We were overwhelmed with nominations for so many deserving groups from sports clubs and youth groups to emergency response charities and counselling services – thanks to all our customers for taking the time to nominate. We hope the donations will make a difference and help these local groups continue their great work in their communities.”

From the end of October until 8 December, shoppers were invited to nominate a group they felt deserved to receive a £1,000 donation.  The initiative was sponsored by Ballygowan, Boyne Valley Group, Hartleys, Lucozade and Walkers and kindly supported by Musgrave’s retail partners.

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