Grocery inflation increased for the first time for 15 months in the 12 weeks to early July, according to Kantar.

Inflation increased 0.14 percentage points month-on-month to 2.6% while a 3.2% uptick in shopping frequency caused take-home grocery sales to increases 6.6% in the four weeks to 7 July.

Emer Healy, business development director at Kantar, said inflation remained at its lowest level since March 2022 and down 11.8 points on July 2023.

"It means that shoppers in Ireland remain on the lookout for value deals in the market with over 25% of value sales on promotion," she added.

"With retailers keen to push their own label products, we’ve seen strong sales this period with shoppers spending an additional €67.8m year-on-year and total market growth of 4.5% on these ranges."

Shoppers also spent an extra €15.5m or 10.8% on premium own label ranges, while sales of brands increased €86.3m or 6%.

Sales of savoury snacks, chocolate, wine and cider rose by a combined €12m in July, but the colder weather resulted in an €800,000 drop in sales of chilled salads, burgers, grills and steaks compared to the same period last year. Soup and hot beverage sales, conversely, surged by €1.8m.

Online sales rose 12.1% or €19.2m year-on-year, with new shoppers contributing an €12.5m.

Dunnes Stores holds 23.2% market share with growth of 7.2% year-on-year. Dunnes growth stems mainly from more frequent trips and larger trips, which contributed a combined €42.7m to its overall performance.

Tesco holds 23.1% of the market, up 7.5% year-on-year. Tesco has the strongest trip frequency growth amongst all retailers for another consecutive month, up 6.7% year-on-year, contributing an additional €46.4m to its overall performance.

SuperValu holds 20.4% of the market with growth of 3.2%. SuperValu shoppers make the most trips in-store when compared to all retailers, an average of 21.6 trips.

The retailer also saw the strongest growth in volume per trip amongst all retailers, up 5.1%, while welcoming new shoppers into stores, which contributed a combined additional €50.2m to overall performance.

Lidl holds 13.9% share with growth of 4.9% year-on-year. More frequent trips contributed an additional €36.8m to their overall performance.

Finally, Aldi holds 12% market share with growth of 0.6% year on year. More frequent trips and new shopper arrivals contributed an additional €11.6m to its overall performance.

(Pic: Getty Images)