SUPER VALU MOVED ahead of Dunnes Stores in grocery sales last month as supermarkets continued to see a boost in revenues as a result of the lockdown.

Over the past 12 weeks shoppers have spent almost €3 billion, €440 million more than the same period last year and a 17.2% increase. 

Supermarket alcohol sales are €47 million ahead of where they were in 2019, a 70% increase.  

The latest grocery market share figures from Kantar have shown that shoppers have increased their monthly spend by an average of €118 per month. 

With more people staying at home and potentially having more time to cook from scratch, sales of ready meals are in decline while 50% of all households have bought baking supplies in the past four weeks. 

Supermarkets are reporting that sales of flour are up by 52% while sugar is up by 43%. 

“In the absence of dinners with friends and lunch on the go, many more meals are being eaten in the home and grocery sales have risen accordingly,” Kantar Ireland’s managing director David Berry said today. 

But social distancing means people are less likely to be buying categories like clothes, food on the go, and general merchandise – which means, for some retailers, the overall picture will be more modest.

March saw the biggest month for grocery sales on record and while April was not at that level, sales in the month were still 22.5% ahead of April 2019.  

Kantar Kantar

Lidl was the fastest growing of all the retailers during the full 12-week period, boosting sales by 22.1% and increasing its market share to 12% while Aldi grew by 15.6% to hold an 11.8% share.

Over the past month however, SuperValu’s larger number of stories saw it benefit from shoppers choosing to visit outlets closer to home, being the only retailer not to experience reduced footfall compard to March. 

It meant that, in the 12 weeks to the end of April, Super Valu grabbed the largest market share at 22.2% of the total spend. 

In a statement this afternoon, Super Valu hailed staff at its stores for their work during the Covid-19 pandemic and also said that the implementation  of “protective measures such as plexiglass at tills” have helped to keep sales high. 

“Our robust supply chain ensured that shelves remain fully stocked from the outset of the crisis. These measures mean that shoppers can always buy groceries without making multiple trips,” the statement said.