€1.5bn spent on food over festive season, despite rising inflation

Irish consumers spent almost €1.5bn on groceries over the festive period, according to the latest data from Worldpanel by Numerator.

The single busiest day of the period, Tuesday December 23, saw €107m in sales - a record daily spend.

This performance came as grocery inflation ticked higher during the four-week period covered by the report, rising to an annual 6.25%, up from 6% in November.

The average Irish shopper spent €770 at supermarkets during the festive period, an increase of €32 when compared to 2024.

Turkey sales fall

There were some signs of inflation effects in what people were buying, with Emer Healy, business development director at Worldpanel by Numerator saying that “we saw a slight decline in fresh turkey sales, down 2.3%, while shoppers spent an additional €3m on chicken, possibly due to cost”.

Despite this, consumers increased the share of branded products in their shopping baskets to more than 52% over the 12 weeks to the end of December.

The total spend on branded products hit €2bn for the first time during that period.

Looking at the performance of the major multiples, Dunnes Stores maintained its number one position at 24.7% market share, with Tesco in a very close second place at 24.5%. Lidl increased its share to 13% while Aldi slipped slightly to 10.3%.

Online sales grew significantly in the four weeks to the end of December, taking 6.1% of the market by value.