David Berry, commercial director at Kantar Worldpanel, said: "Aldi has been the star performer for a number of years and this is reflected in its 29.8% growth rate. Its strong performance is down to a solid combination of new store openings, a strong advertising campaign and a consistent evolution of the goods on offer in store. All of this means that Aldi has firmly established its position as the number five retailer in Ireland with a 6% share of the market and is now closing the gap on Lidl."

Shoppers are continuing to keep close control over their spending – an austerity trend which has led to the value of the Irish grocery market falling by 0.5%. This is despite a slight increase in the Kantar Worldpanel inflation measure to 2.6%. This trend is further demonstrated by consumers choosing to shop more often for fewer items.

Tesco and SuperValu have out-performed the market and are beginning to gain some momentum, both achieving higher growth rates than last month. Lidl has seen a moderate growth of 0.1 percentage points to 6.6%, although its 1% growth rate is the lowest it has posted this year.

Berry added: "While the grocery market as a whole remains subdued, there are still some areas that are performing well. Sales of alcohol at the grocers have grown by 8% this quarter, showing that staying in and having a drink is an increasingly popular choice for those of us who are on a budget." 

Meanwhile Dunnes Stores’ market share fell by -7.8%, from 23.3% to 21.6%. Superquinn’s share also decreased by -4.3% from 5.7% to 5.5% during the 12 week period to 30 September.  

Dunn