By Irishexaminer.com,Ronan Smyth

Copyright irishexaminer

Grocery price inflation has been steadily rising over the last several months. In the 12 weeks leading up to September 7, annual grocery price inflation stood at 6.3%, up from the 5.4% compared to the previous 12-week period.

In January, the annual rate of inflation was 3.4%, which has nearly doubled in nine months.

This is compared to the overall headline inflation rate, which stood at 2% during August.

According to new data from Worldpanel by Numerator, back-to-school spending helped drive take-home grocery sales up by 6.1% in the four weeks to September 7, with “many parents preparing for the new term, store visits increased by 0.7%, although shoppers picked up fewer packs per trip”.

Overall, shoppers spent an additional €68.8m on groceries compared with the same period last year.

Business development director Emer Healy said in the four weeks to September 7, spending on typical lunchbox staples increased across many households with children.

“Over the latest four-week period, shoppers spent an additional €5.3m on sweet bakery items, fresh fruit, breakfast cereals and porridge, savoury snacks and yoghurt. Convenience is also a priority, with an extra €1.6m spent on fresh and frozen ready meals and cooking sauces compared with last year,” she said.

Households with children also made greater use of online shopping, spending an additional €6.6m compared with the previous month. They also added €1.2m more to their baskets on sliced meats, yoghurts, breakfast cereals and biscuits, as they stocked up for school lunches.

There was a significant amount of money spent on promotions as well. In the 12 weeks to September 7, €758m was spent on promotional lines, an increase of 8.2% on the previous year.

Key categories driving this growth included laundry, water, squash and smoothies, all of which performed ahead of the total market for promotional lines.

Branded items sales increased by 3.9% during the period, while supermarket own-label saw stronger growth at 6.6%. Premium own label was the standout performer, up 16.2%.

In terms of the consumer spending during this period, Dunnes Stores held 23.9% market share, while Tesco held 23.7%, and SuperValu held 19.5%.

Lidl’s market share stood at 14.2% and Aldi held 11.6%.