Grocery price inflation hits a new record high

TAKE-HOME grocery sales in Ireland increased by 5% in the four weeks to January 23, 2023, according to the latest data from Kantar, with grocery price inflation of 16.3% driving value sales growth rather than volume driving market growth. In January, average price per pack rose 14.6%, while volume per trip was down 13%, showing the challenges Irish shoppers are facing.

In the 12-week period to January 23, 2023, take-home grocery sales increased by 6.8%, with shoppers contributing an additional €211.8 million to the overall market performance. As a result, shoppers spent an additional €90.50 per household year-on-year.

“The sector growth comes as grocery price inflation hit 16.3% - the highest level seen since Kantar started tracking grocery inflation,” explains Emer Healy, Senior Retail Analyst. “However, this does trail just behind Great Britain, where inflation hit 16.7% after two months of slight decline. Irish households will now face an extra €1,159 on their annual shopping bills if they don’t change their behaviour to cut costs.”

Consumers are keeping a close eye on their purse strings after indulging during the festive period, when the first Christmas since 2019 with no Covid-19 restrictions saw shoppers spend an additional €119 million at the tills, making it a record-breaking month, with sales of €1.3 billion in the four weeks to December 25, 2022.

“It’s no surprise that shoppers continued to trade down to supermarkets’ own label products this period, with sales rising 10.4%, well ahead of a 4.7% increase in branded lines,” noted Emer.

Sales of premium own label lines have reached €152.6 million, up €5.7 million from last year, with €26.7 million of that coming from premium own label chilled convenience products in the 12-week period, a strong growth of 11.6%. Value own label lines saw the strongest growth, up 34% year-on-year, with shoppers spending €17.9 million more on these ranges.

The Irish grocery market is more competitive than ever before, with shoppers looking for the best deals and retailers looking to retain customers. This is reflected by many supermarkets using their loyalty schemes to help shoppers save. According to Kantar’s LinkQ data, nearly 38% of shoppers claim to always use a money-saving voucher. As a result, the amount bought on promotion has fallen to 27.7%, the lowest level for five years, exaggerating the usual post-Christmas drop-off in deals. However, government action to help consumers manage cost of living pressures may have bolstered shopper confidence, as the number of households who classified their financial situation as struggling fell from 32% in October to 23% in December 2022, with just over half of Irish shoppers (52%) feeling they were managing financially.

Many Irish shoppers kicked off 2023 with good intentions, making health a priority. Shoppers spent an additional €848,000 on vitamins and mineral supplements. ‘Veganuary’ saw sales of meat-free alternatives grow 4%, with shoppers spending an additional €102,000 on tofu. ‘Dry January’ also saw sales of non-alcoholic beverages grow 4.6%, with 5% of Irish households purchasing a nonalcoholic beverage during January.

Online sales remained strong during January, up 5.6% year-on-year, with shoppers spending an additional €8.5 million in online channels. An influx of new shoppers boosted online sales, with nearly one in five Irish households now purchasing online.

Dunnes Stores hold the highest share amongst all retailers at 23.7%, with growth of 10.3% year-on-year. This growth stems from an influx of new shoppers in-store, up 1.34 percentage points, and shoppers returning more often contributed an additional €24.9 million to their overall performance.

Tesco are close behind with 23.1% market share and growth of 9.8% yearon-year. Tesco also have the strongest frequency growth amongst all retailers, up 10% year-on-year.

SuperValu hold 20.9% of the market and 0.9%. growth. Among the Irish grocery retailers, SuperValu shoppers make the most trips in-store, with 20.8 trips on average, up 9.2% year-on-year.

Lidl hold 12.2% share and 9.9% growth year-on-year. New shoppers and more frequent trips contributed an additional €25.5 million to their overall performance. Aldi hold 11.6% and 6.8% growth yearon-year, with new shoppers and more frequent trips contributing an additional €10.8 million to their overall performance.

Lidl Ireland sign €17 million deal with Honeyvale Foods

LIDL Ireland announced a new contract worth more than €17 million with Honeyvale Foods. The new deal will see the Tipperary supplier deliver a range of premium Irish pork and bacon products to more than 217 Lidl stores across the island of Ireland. Founded in 1940, Honeyvale is part of the family-owned Brett Group that started as a small agricultural merchant selling to farmers in Kilkenny and Tipperary. It has grown over the years to become an international supplier of premium pork and bacon. Claire Mulrennan, Senior Buyer, Lidl Ireland, is pictured here with John Brett, Commercial Director, Honeyvale (left), and David Brett, Managing Director, Honeyvale.

Mace store sells €3.5 million Lotto ticket

Felix purrfect pairing with Robbie Williams

A LOCAL shop in Kilbarrack has been revealed as the selling location for the January 21 Lotto jackpot winning ticket worth an incredible €3,519,138. Mace in Kilbarrack Shopping Centre, Dublin 5, sold the winning ticket on Friday, January 20. “I’m absolutely ecstatic! I couldn't believe it when I got the call,” noted store owner Rhonda Brophy. “I thought ‘oh my goodness, after all this time in business, we’ve actually got a winner’. It's just unreal. We have to be one of the busiest lottery shops on the northside, so it's about time one of our customers won! We're a locally owned and run business in the shopping centre.” Rhonda Brophy is pictured with Conor Donohue, National Lottery.

PURINA have announced that Robbie Williams has recorded a brand-new song, as the new voice of the most mischievous cat around, Felix. Felix the cat is the face of one of the best loved foods for Irish cats, with Felix being one of the recognisable brands in Purina’s wide-ranging pet food portfolio. The internationally acclaimed recording artist stars in a film premiere in which he unveils a new exclusive track written and recorded specifically for this new Europe-wide Felix advertising campaign, ‘It’s Great To Be a Cat’. Taking inspiration from Robbie’s own adored cats, as well as the mischievous antics of Felix, the global superstar wrote and created an iconic track especially for Felix, celebrating the glorious life of cats.

“The cat is out of the bag,” said Robbie. “I’m the new voice of Felix. I’ve been a long-time fan of cats, I’ve had many feline friends over the years and after studying their fascinating behaviour, I can confidently say, It’s Great To Be a Cat.” See FelixandRobbie. com for more information.

Fyffes search for Ireland’s Fittest School

FOR the second year in a row, a call has gone out to schools across the country, from Irish Olympians Phil Healy and David Gillick (pictured), who have joined forces with Fyffes in a quest to find ‘Ireland’s Fittest School 2023’. Registration for the competition can be made online at www.fyffesfitsquad.ie, with the overall winning school to be announced in April. Coupled with spot prize rewards, one successful school will have the distinction of being chosen as ‘Ireland’s Fittest School 2023’, the prize for which will be a special visit from Healy and Gillick and €5,000 worth of sports equipment. The competition coincides with the ongoing roll-out of the Fyffes Fit Squad, a children’s fitness programme of live school visits across the country.

Coca-Cola launch enhanced maternity and paternity policy

COCA-COLA HBC Ireland and Northern Ireland have announced a new and improved maternity and paternity policy for all staff, which went live at the start of this year. On reviewing previous policies and in recognition of the need to support new parents and improve work life balance, Coca-Cola HBC have developed a Diversity Action Plan which includes a reformed maternity and paternity policy in addition to other changes. The new policy will give expectant mothers 26 weeks of 100% pay and then a further three months on 50% pay. The organisation is also taking steps to improve paternity leave cover, offering expectant fathers six weeks of leave on 100% pay. The announcement comes as the beverage business, which has over 750 employees on the island of Ireland, announced 35 new roles as part of a €20 / £17 million expansion to its production facility in Knockmore Hill, Lisburn, Northern Ireland.

Consumers can ‘Win on the Double with Denny’

ICONIC food brand Denny has been at the heart of Irish family homes for more than 200 years. Their new campaign, Win on the Double with Denny, reminds us that, sometimes, the most comfort is derived from comforting others. The campaign gives shoppers the opportunity to enjoy Denny’s delicious, quality ham, while also being in with a chance to win one €100 grocery gift voucher for themselves and one for a loved one. Consumers simply pick up a pack, freetext the unique

Spar’s Better Choices campaign launched by Irish Olympians

TWO Irish Olympians and Spar Ambassadors, boxer Kellie Harrington and rower Gary O’Donovan, have joined forces to launch the Spar Better Choices campaign for 2023, which aims to encourage customers to make Better Choices when shopping across the convenience retail network. The campaign features the two champions taking each other on in a fun set of challenges to see who will be crowned the Spar Better Choices Champion, over events like the Smoothie Slalom, the Popcorn Relay and the Apple Bobsleigh. To launch this initiative, Spar have partnered with Dietician, Dr Yvonne Finnegan, and there is an educational element to the campaign, with text appearing on screen to educate viewers on the nutritional values of the foods used by the Olympians in the challenges.

code inside and are in with a chance of winning every day over the competition’s life.

Ornua recognised as Company of the Year for 2022

ORNUA were the winners of the prestigious Company of the Year award for 2022 at this year’s Business & Finance Awards in association with KPMG. Ornua CEO John Jordan accepted the award on behalf of the business at the gala award ceremony, held in Dublin’s Convention Centre and attended by leading political, international business, and social leaders, including President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and then Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD. John Jordan thanked his colleagues at Ornua, their members, and the 14,000 Irish farming families they represent: “Our success is down to their continuous commitment and dedication. An incredible achievement in a poignant year for us, having celebrated 60 years in the business just last year.” Seamus Hand, Managing Partner, KPMG Ireland, presents Ornua CEO John Jordan with the 2022 Company of the Year Award, alongside Business & Finance President Ian Hyland.