Research from the National Consumer Agency has found that 72 per cent of women take responsibility for food shopping and another 13 per cent say they do the weekly shop with their partner.

By contrast 57 per cent of men claim to have no responsibility for buying groceries and 23 per cent say they are prepared only to share the chore.

Just one in five men takes full responsibility for buying groceries. Nine out of 10 shoppers say they believe they are shopping more wisely than 18 months ago when the agency last took the pulse of the nation’s shoppers, while two-thirds have started to shop in less expensive stores.

The results mirror research published recently by leading retail analysts Kantar, which reported that German discounters Aldi and Lidl will have 15 per cent of the Irish grocery market by the end of the year, up almost 50 per cent in less than three years.

There has also been a move towards home cooking, with 73 per cent of those polled saying they are preparing more food from scratch and 54 per cent eating less processed and ready-to-eat products. This shift is particularly evident in younger age groups, with 82 per cent of those under 35 saying they are cooking more than they were 18 months ago.

Not surprisingly, price positioning is of vital importance, with two-thirds of shoppers saying they have visited a particular shop because of the prices or offers available there. Those aged between 35 and 49 years are most likely to do so. The over-65s say they are least likely to have chosen a specific grocery store because of prices or special offers.

Shoppers are becoming increasingly thrifty and also seeking out more own-brand products but do not believe this shift has led to a compromise on quality.

“There have been further significant shifts towards supermarket own-brand labels as consumers believe that the quality of own-brand products has improved,” the director of research and policy Fergal O’Leary said.