Record-breaking December for grocery sales in Ireland as spend surpasses €1.4bn

Kenneth Fox

It was a record-breaking December for grocery sales in Ireland as overall spending surpassed €1.4 billion.

Grocery inflation was measured at 7.1 percent in the three months to Christmas, according to Kantar.

It is still well above the level of inflation recorded in the rest of the economy.

Last year, grocery inflation was measured at more than 15 per cent.

That rate has fallen by half - which can be seen as a positive - however, it's still almost double the economy's inflation rate, which is estimated at around 3.7 per cent.

Consumers were looking for a bargain according to Kantar - with 29 percent of the spend between the end of September and the end of December being on promotional items.

The busiest day over Christmas in supermarkets was Friday December 22nd.

Irish shoppers made nearly 42 million trips over the four weeks to December 24th – 3.4 million more than last year and the largest number ever recorded at Christmas.

Irish consumers also reached for more branded goods to treat themselves over the Christmas period, spending an additional €105 million compared to Christmas 2022, an increase of 6.1 per cent. This resulted in brands attaining their highest value share since January 2023, at 50.7 per cent.

With more hosting taking place over the Christmas period, Irish shoppers spent an additional €10.4 million on household and cleaning products and €2.2 million more on toiletries.

Dunnes, SuperValu and Tesco accounted for a combined market share of 69 per cent during the 12 weeks to December 24th.