Grocery Price Inflation Falls to 4.7% in June; Summer Sales Surge

Grocery price inflation decreased to 4.7% in June, down from 5.5% last month and over 6% in April, according to Worldpanel by Numerator. Despite the slowdown, prices are still rising, and concerns remain about potential impacts from the Gulf conflict on the food supply chain, which could accelerate price increases later in the summer.

Take-home grocery sales rose by 4.8%, with online sales increasing by 16.8% year-on-year. Summer categories saw strong growth, including soft drinks (€2.9 million increase), water and squash (€1.27 million increase), and ice-cream and sorbets (€4.2 million increase) compared to May. Suncare demand added €2.2 million, while at-home eating boosted fruit sales by €549,000 and bakery sales by €302,000.

Eimear Faughnan, Worldpanel’s head of retail, noted increased spending on chilled burgers and grills (€502,000) and prepared salads (€775,000) due to events like a bank holiday and the World Cup. Shoppers also spent an additional €2 million on flavored alcoholic drinks and mixers, though beer and cider sales fell by €3.3 million.

Dunnes leads the market with a 23.8% share and 4.9% sales growth. Tesco is close behind at 23.6% share, growing at 5.5%. SuperValu holds 19.5%, while Lidl reached 15% with over 11% growth. Aldi maintained an 11% share.