NEW FIGURES on Ireland’s grocery market show that stores’ own brands and discount retailers are capturing a bigger share of the market.

Figures released by Kantar Worldpanel in Ireland for the quarter ending on 5 August show that overall the Irish grocery market has fallen by 0.9 per cent since the same period of last year.

Tesco and Dunnes have held on to their top one and two positions, with 28.8 per cent (up 0.4 per cent) and 21.6 per cent (up 3 per cent) market share respectively.

Meanwhile, discount retailers Aldi and Lidl now account for 12.4 per cent of the total market. Aldi’s share increased by more than a quarter to 5.7 per cent for this period of 2012, while Lidl grew by 2.2 per cent to 6.7 per cent.

Superquinn’s share dropped from 6 per cent to 5.5 per cent over the year, and Supervalu’s share grew slightly to 19.6 per cent.

Kantar Worldpanel commercial director David Berry said that Tesco’s strong performance over the year was “fuelled in part by a rise in a ‘little and often’ approach to shopping which is driving customers through the doors more regularly”.

“The economic imperative to reduce waste has led to an extra 3.9 million shopping trips over the latest quarter when compared to last year,” he added, “although the challenge for the market is that each trip has reduced in value by over €1.”

Kantar’s figures are based on the grocery purchasing habits of 3,000 households around the country.