The annual rate at which grocery prices have been increasing has edged up in the 12 weeks to the start of November, data from retail analysts Kantar Worldpanel suggests.
The current rate of 3.3 per cent is 0.6 per cent higher than this time last month but down more than 6 per cent on the same period a year ago. It is also dramatically lower than it was at the height of the cost-of-living crisis when it was close to 17 per cent.
Halloween, the bank holiday ahead of the school midterm break and Christmas saw a 5.4 per cent increase in volume sales, with pumpkin sales increasing by 4.5 per cent sales and brussels sprouts surging by 43 per cent.
“October was an important month for Irish shoppers as they prepared for the first school holiday of the new term and Halloween, enjoying above-average temperatures that delayed the need to don winter woollies,” said Kantar’s head of retail Eimear Faughnan.
“Shoppers stocked up on Halloween treats, spending a ‘frightening’ €8.9 million more than last year on chocolate confectionery. €2.4 million on savoury snacks and €1.6 million on sweets.” she said.
She suggested it was clear that Irish households are also preparing for the holiday season spending an additional combined €774,000 on flour, fruits & nuts, icing & cake mixes as they ready their Christmas cakes.
Over the latest 12-week period, shoppers took advantage of promotions spending an additional €40 million on deals compared to the previous period.
The share of products sold on promotion sits at 18.5 per cent, Branded products outperformed own label for the third consecutive 12-week period, resulting in a 2.6 percentage-point gap, as shoppers boosted branded value sales by 7 per cent.
Dunnes holds 24.5 per cent market share, with sales growth of 9 per cent year-on-year while Tesco was in second on 23.4 per cent. SuperValu holds 19.7 per cent of the market. Lidl experienced a growth of 6.3 per cent, capturing a 13.5 per cent share of total spending. Meanwhile, Aldi grew by 1.2 per cent securing an 11.5 per cent market share.
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