The latest grocery market share figures from Kantar Worldpanel in Ireland, published today for the 12 weeks ending 28 January 2018, show a number of interesting trends.

Firstly, branded labels have continued to increase in popularity in Ireland, following an rise in popularity in late 2017. Sales are up 4% year-on-year, with shoppers spending an additional €49m on branded labels over the past 12 weeks.

As David Berry, director at Kantar Worldpanel, comments: “This is the first time in four years that brands have posted stronger sales growth than their own-label counterparts, with alcohol, baked goods, frozen food and toiletries performing best.”

There was also an increase in spending on vegan and vegetarian options, as “sales of vegetarian options surged by 18%”.

Dunnes remains Ireland’s favourite retailer, capturing 23.2% of shoppers’ grocery spending and a 5.7% increase of sales compared with this time last year.

Tesco is just behind in second place, with a 22.7% share of the market and a comparable sales increase of 4.8%. This is the 10th successive month that the retailer has enjoyed sales growth, boosting market share by 0.3 percentage points year-on-year.

Performance for SuperValu remains consistent, with sales growth of 2.1%. Dublin yielded the strongest results for the retailer, with the supermarket managing to increase its market share in a region where it was traditionally under-represented.

Lidl continues to enjoy a strong performance, with sales growth of 4.6%, boosting market share to 10.5%. Aldi has seen a slight dip in sales, with market share now standing at 10.3%.

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