Irish shoppers love affair with supermarkets’ own-brand products appears far from over with sales jumping by almost 4 per cent compared to this time last year.
All told, 54 per cent of the products found in the average Irish supermarket shopper’s trolly carry own-brand labels compared with less than 10 per cent before the economic crash a a decade ago, according to the latest figures from retail analysts Kantar Worldpanel.
The data also shows Tesco leapfrogging Dunnes Stores to reclaim second place in the Irish supermarket sweeps for the first time since last September, with a lead of 0.1 per cent.
Kantar Worldpanel’s latest grocery market share figures covering the 12 weeks to May 21st still have SuperValu in the top spot with a total market share of 22.5 per cent, a full half a percentage point ahead of Tesco.
Dunnes is in third place on 21.9 per cent while Lidl has retained its fourth position with a share of 11.4 per cent, just 0.2 per cent ahead of its main rival Aldi.
According to the Kantar figurers, the grocery market continues to grow despite continued price deflation with an increase of 2.2 per cent recorded during the past quarter compared with last year
The sector was worth €2.37 billion over the 12-week period, an increase of €50 million on last year.
“With the average price per pack falling slightly, growth has been driven by households buying extra items, with the average shopping basket increasing in size,” said thedirector at Kantar Worldpanel David Berry.
“The recent strong performance from Dunnes Stores has continued, with overall sales improving by 4.9 per cent compared with last year,” Mr Berry said. “This is despite the number of consumers visiting Dunnes actually falling. “
The retailer had 54,000 fewer shoppers during the past 12 weeks. However, the fall was offset by an impressive spending increase among remaining customers, with Dunnes shoppers spending 10 per cent more - €47 extra on average - with the grocer during the latest quarter.
Lidl and Aldi have also enjoyed strong performances during the past 12 weeks. Growth for Lidl has accelerated to 2.7 per cent with Aldi boosting sales by 4 per cent.
