Irish shoppers spent €493,000 less on burgers this year compared with last year, according to Katar's most recent data.

They also spent €1.3m less on chilled prepared salads year on year, €2.5m less on ice cream and a combined €2.3m less on fruit squash and mineral water.

However, overall grocery sales in Ireland increased by 6.8% in the four weeks to 6 August 2023, the data shows.

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Grocery price inflation, according to Kantar, is the driving factor behind the uptick in sales rather than increased purchasing.

However, while grocery inflation rose by 12.8%, it was down on last month and is the lowest level since November 2022.

Third drop

Business development director at Kantar Emer Healy said: “This is the third month in a row where there has been a drop in grocery inflation, which is welcome news for Irish consumers, although the rate is still incredibly high.

"Compared to last month’s grocery inflation rate of 14.7%, there has been a significant drop of 1.9 percentage points.

"This is the lowest level we have seen over the past 10 months and we expect to see a continued gradual decline in inflation rates over the coming months."

Irish retailer performance

Dunnes, Tesco and Lidl all grew ahead of the total market in terms of value this month. The gap between the top three retailers continues to close, with Tesco and Dunnes holding the combined highest share.

Dunnes holds 22.6%, with growth of 12.7% year on year. This growth stems from shoppers returning to store more often, up 4.2% year on year, along with recruiting new shoppers to store, up 1.3 percentage points.

Tesco also holds 22.6% of the market, with growth of 12.6% year on year. Tesco had the strongest frequency growth among all retailers again, up 16.9% year on year, contributing an additional €98.8m to overall performance.

SuperValu holds 20.9% of the market, with growth of 5.8%. SuperValu shoppers make the most trips in store when compared to all retailers - 22.2 trips on average, which is up 5.8% year on year.

Lidl holds 13.8% share, with growth of 12.7% year on year. More frequent trips contributed to an additional €40.9m to overall performance.

Aldi holds 12.6%, with growth of 7.7% year on year, thanks to a strong boost in new shoppers and more frequent trips, contributing an additional €34.6m to overall performance.