Shoppers can save up to €3,000 a year on grocery bills by choosing to buy own-brand products in shops to help offset near-record levels of inflation.

With the average household now facing a €330 increase on their annual grocery bill, an analysis found there are huge savings to be made by replacing some big-name brands with supermarket own-brand products.

Across Dunnes Stores, Tesco and SuperValu, the savings are as substantial as €2,890 a year on a shop of 30 items, which would cost more than €5,000 annually if consumers opted for the better-known brands.

At a time when grocery prices are at their highest in a decade and households are faced with a litany of energy price hikes, consumer experts say now is the time to switch. Dermott Jewell, chairman of the Consumers' Association of Ireland, said: "With the cost of living increasing at the rate it does, most consumers, if not all, are going to change their patterns of spending.

"Life has become very expensive and life has become quite a challenge in trying to make ends meet for everybody."

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"The bottom line is [that] any consumer can save as much as 50% in their shopping against named brands by buying either own brands or the Aldi and Lidl range - and that's quite a significant amount of money at any time but certainly very important at this present time."

Grocery prices are now at their highest level since September 2013, rising at an average of 4.7%.

While this is lower than the current headline inflation figure of 7.3%, food prices are expected to rise even further in the coming months.

Dunnes Stores, SuperValu and Tesco were respectively the most expensive to shop in, with the price difference hitting €100 between each over the course of a year.

The analysis has found that Tesco consumers have the potential to save €2,792 per year on the same items by making more conscious choices.

Buying their branded products could leave shoppers facing a yearly expense of €5,137 but by buying the supermarket's ownbrands this could drop to €2,344.

At Dunnes Stores, the same shopping basket would cost about €200 more a year than Tesco, standing at €5,362 and dropping to €2,471 for own-brand items.

SuperValu came in the second most expensive after Dunnes, with the big branded shopping basket costing €5,269, dropping to €2,468 for own-brands.

But the biggest savings came from Lidl and Aldi, where respectively the same shop would cost even lower again, at €2,142 and €2,062 respectively.

Economist Austin Hughes, of KBC Bank, said he chooses certain own-brand products over branded ones and he believes the popularity of shopping this way will rise.

Mr Hughes said: "You would imagine this is an irreversible trend and a lot will depend on the extent of which companies focus on underlining the quality of own-brands."

Consumers are generally creatures of habit, but Mr Hughes said that there has been "a notable improvement in the quality of ownbrand goods which means it is more of a like-for-like".

Restaurant critic, Tom Doorley, agreed with Mr Hughes and said that competing supermarkets have upped their game and are now producing more quality own-brand goods, which are favourable to the most discerning palate.

Mr Jewell added that people should not fear the quality will be diminished.

He said: 'There's an assumption made that there's something different about it, that it's not as good. It's not necessarily at all of a lesser quality. It's a different brand, that's all it is - a different maker.'

The analysis examined the differences in a typical shopping basket across some of the biggest supermarkets in Ireland.

Significant price differences were seen in meat, with own-brand chicken and sausages almost half the price.

Condiments such as Heinz ketchup was €3.89 compared to a €0.50 own-brand bottle.

Staple breakfast items such as tea, coffee and cereals were considerably cheaper when buying a non-branded product.

An own-brand box of 80 teabags was €1.15 compared to Barry's branded tea which was €3.60.

An unbranded box of cornflakes was less than €1 in Tesco compared to a Kellogg's box which comes in at €2.89.

The price differences were not just seen in food either. Toilet roll, washing up liquid and dishwasher tablets were all considerably more expensive when branded.

A four-pack of Andrex toilet roll was €2.75 in Dunnes Stores compared to their own €1.15 version.

Parents are being faced with the cost of €9.99 for Pampers nappies in Dunnes Stores and SuperValu but could save €418 a year by purchasing the €1.95 alternative that both supermarkets also offer.

Mr Jewell explained that many consumers are "conditioned" to buy branded products but he believes that people will be forced to change their habits.

He said: "Prices are changing with a degree of regularity and frequency that we've never had before. The recommendation is do it now, you have nothing to lose. Have a look at the prices, make the choice and save money if you want to."

Emer Healy, senior retail analyst with Kantar, which analyses supermarket spending, said this week of the succession of food price hikes: "The impact is being felt widely across store shelves and consumers will be noticing the effects on their budgets. Foods like cooked poultry, bread, pasta and butter have seen some of the biggest jumps.

"The average household is facing a €330 price increase on their annual grocery bill and 23% of households say they are now struggling to make ends meet when it comes to their weekly food shop."

According to research released last week, all the major retailers saw take-home grocery sales fall in the 12 weeks to 17 April 2022.

Kantar's latest take-home grocery figures for Ireland showed that sales fell by 7.2% over the 12 weeks.

Dunnes has retained its position as Ireland's largest grocer, holding a 22.4% market share in the latest 12 weeks.

The retailer was bolstered by the largest influx of new shoppers this period, who contributed an additional €56.8million to its overall performance.

SuperValu holds a 21.8% share of the market. Tesco follows closely behind at 21.7%, meaning that there is now just 0.1 percentage point between the retailers. Lidl and Aldi supermarkets account for 13.0% and 12.1% of the market respectively.