Irish grocery price inflation has soared to a new record of 16.3%, with shops seeing a 10.4% increase in supermarket’s own brand products as consumers re-evaluate their shopping habits in order to save money.
The surge in inflation means households could now face an extra €1,159 on their annual shopping bills.
This is according to the latest data from Kantar, which highlights the fact that grocery price inflation is driving the value of sales growth rather than the volume per market growth.
The sale of groceries rose by 6.8% over the 12-week period up until January 23, leading shoppers to spend an accumulated €211.8m on their food shop alone.
This has had a knock-on effect on consumer bills, with the average household spending an additional €90.50 per household.
The rise in inflation to 16.3% is the highest level seen since Kantar started tracking grocery inflation.
Spending habits
More people are now buying own brand levels, the Kantar research suggests.
Senior Retail Analyst Emer Healy said: “With consumers keeping a close eye on their purse strings after indulging during the festive period it’s no surprise that shoppers continued to trade down to supermarkets’ own label products this period, with sales rising 10.4%, well ahead of a 4.7% increase in branded lines”.
This trend is evident in the fact that value own label lines saw an increased growth of 34% year-on-year with shoppers spending an additional €17.9m on these ranges.
Many shoppers have begun to avail of loyalty schemes available in shops, where they can reap the rewards of vouchers and have money deducted from their weekly shop.
According to Kantar’s LinkQ data, nearly 38% of shoppers claim to always use a money-saving voucher.
Another trend noted this month has
