Irish shoppers spent a record €1.2bn on groceries in December, making it the busiest month ever for Irish supermarkets.

New data from Kantar shows Irish consumers spent more money than ever buying food and drink from supermarkets over the Christmas period in 2020.

According to the Kantar figures, Irish shoppers spent an additional €6.7m on chocolate and an extra €3m on cheese in December as consumers sought to treat themselves over the Christmas break.

Increase in smaller meat cuts

With fewer relatives home for Christmas dinner, sales of whole turkeys in the lead up to Christmas were down €1.2m on normal years.

However, there was a notable increase in sales of smaller cuts of meat with fewer people around the table this Christmas.

Kantar data shows a near €1m increase in sales of turkey rolls, a €0.4m increase in sales of roast beef, as well as a €0.5m increase in sales of roast pork.

“Although not a traditional Christmas, shoppers still endeavoured to make it a merry one and to treat themselves after a tough year,” said retail analyst at Kantar Emer Healy.

"Our collective sweet tooth saw an extra €6.7m spent on chocolate confectionery this December.

"We also parted with €3m extra on cheese and, as we all raised a glass to the end of 2020, alcohol sales soared by 33%."

Sales growth

Kantar’s data shows that all the major Irish supermarket chains enjoyed double-digit sales growth in the 12-week period to the end of December.

The standout performer by far was the German discounter Lidl, which enjoyed sales growth of almost 30% in the period.

SuperValu recorded sales growth of 19% over the Christmas period, while UK supermarket giant Tesco recorded sales growth of almost 18%.

Aldi, the other German discounter, had sales growth of 16% in the period.

Dunnes Stores recorded the weakest sales growth over the Christmas period at just over 11%.

However, Dunnes remains the largest supermarket chain in Ireland with a near 24% share of the entire market.

Record sales

Overall, Irish consumers spent a record €13bn on food and drink in supermarkets in 2020, which is up almost 20% on normal grocery spending levels.

The COVID-19 pandemic and public health restrictions meant Irish shoppers spent an extra €1.8bn on food and drink from supermarkets in 2020.