Kantar: Grocery market slows in post-festive slump
Following another record-breaking festive season in the Irish grocery market, growth slowed during January to 1.3% - the lowest rate since mid-2017. It wasn't all bad news from the latest Kantar report, as vegan products and non-alcoholic alternatives surged.
Print11 February 2020
Following a record-breaking festive season for the Irish grocery market, consumer confidence fell in the post-Christmas trading period. Figures from Kantar for the 12 weeks to 26 January 2020 show that growth slowed to 1.3% – the slowest rate recorded since March 2017, as shoppers tightened their purse strings.
Despite these decreased sales, however, there was a bright spot in the month, which is the surge of plant-based alternatives amid the “Veganuary” initiative. “Retailers and consumers alike embraced Veganuary, which brought plant-based foods to the fore,” said Kantar’s strategic insight director Matthew Botham. “Sales of milk alternatives grew by 20%, while sales of meat, fish and poulty dropped by 3%.”
Dry January also made its mark on supermarket sales, according to Kantar’s report. The number of households abstaining from alcohol purchases increased to 22%, up from 19% this time last year. The only retailer to buck the trend was SuperValu, which grew its alcohol sales by 7.6%.
Meanwhile, the strongest-performing supermarket brand for the period was Lidl, which increased its market share to 11% (+0.4%). “Lidl’s growth was driven by increased basket sizes,” said Botham, “as shoppers added three more items to their shop than the average market average.”
SuperValu was the only other retailer to accelerate growth over the 12 weeks as its market share grew by 0.1 percentage points to 21.7%.
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