Irish grocery sales were flat in the 12 weeks to August 7 as shoppers kept a tight rein on spending.

It was the first time in 12 months that there was no value growth in the market, Kantar Worldpanel data showed.

Market leader Tesco consolidated its position, delivering sales growth of 1.7% and increasing its market share by 0.5 percentage points to 27.9%

The performance meant Tesco’s lead over closest competitor Dunnes was more than five percentage points - the biggest distance ever. 

Kantar Worldpanel commercial director David Berry said: “Shoppers have tried to offset the price rises by seeking out more value products and sticking to tighter budgets this month. 

“As a result we have seen more trading down to discount outlets and increased sales of cheaper products. Two areas benefitting from this are retailer own brand labels and the discounters.”

Sales of own-brand products climbed by 6%, while those of branded goods fell in value by 3%. 

Discounters Aldi and Lidl achieved sales growth of 25% and 6% respectively.

Grocery price inflation was 4.4%, up from 3.9% in the previous period.

Market Share - Total Grocery

  12 Weeks to 08 Aug 2010  12 Weeks to 07 Aug 2011change
 %    *%    *%
Total Outlets  100.0%100.0%0.0%
Total Multiples  87.6%88.3%0.8%
Tesco  27.4%27.9%1.7%
Dunnes  22.7%22.8%0.4%
Superquinn  6.5%6.0%-8.2%
Supervalu  19.8%19.5%-2.0%
Total Discounters  9.5%10.7%13.5%
 Aldi  3.6%4.4%24.9%
 Lidl  5.9%6.3%6.6%
Other Multiples  1.7%1.5%-9.8%
Total Symbols  5.5%4.9%-10.5%
Asda & Sainsbury  1.8%1.8%-2.5%
Other Outlets  5.1%5.0%-2.9%

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