Ireland’s food grocery market continues to show strong growth on the back of a buoyant economy. New figures from research group Kantar show sales in Ireland’s grocery market grew by almost 5% for the 12-week period to the middle of June.

Of the big three supermarkets in Ireland, Dunnes Stores posted the strongest sales growth

Douglas Faughnan, consumer insight director at Kantar, said Irish consumers spent more money on food, snacks and treats in May and June, which was helped by four English football teams reaching the finals of major European football competitions.

Of the big three supermarkets in Ireland, Dunnes Stores posted the strongest sales growth, with sales rising more than 7% in the period. Dunnes is the joint largest supermarket in Ireland, with a 22% share of the grocery market.

Tesco, which has 22% of the Irish grocery market, posted sales growth of 3%, while sales at Supervalu grew by 2%. Lidl posted sales growth of 6% for the period, while Aldi’s sales grew by more than 13%. Aldi and Lidl now control a combined 24% of Ireland’s grocery market.