{"id":387092,"date":"2026-04-07T22:51:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T22:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/387092\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T22:51:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T22:51:11","slug":"shoppers-face-higher-grocery-prices-as-fallout-from-the-middle-east-crisis-feeds-through-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/387092\/","title":{"rendered":"Shoppers face higher grocery prices as fallout from the Middle East crisis feeds through \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shoppers face higher grocery prices<\/a> in the months ahead as fallout from the Middle East crisis<\/a> feeds through from suppliers, according to industry analyst Worldpanel by Numerator.<\/p>\n

But that did not stop them splurging for Mother\u2019s Day with an additional \u20ac2.3 million in boxed chocolate sold compared with last year. Combined spending on frozen desserts, ice cream, savoury snacks and alcohol rose by an additional \u20ac10.7 million year on year.<\/p>\n

As the conflict in the Gulf continues to influence global fuel prices, attention is \u201cincreasingly turning to how these pressures will affect household budgets\u201d, Emer Healy, business development director at Worldpanel by Numerator, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrocery inflation remains high, and shoppers may now face additional price increases in the months ahead,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHistorically, during periods of rapid inflation, shoppers have adapted by making practical changes, such as opting for lower priced alternatives, buying slightly less or seeking out promotions, and we can expect to see shoppers making these changes in the months ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnderstanding how shoppers respond to growing economic pressure will be crucial for Ireland\u2019s retailers over the coming months. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the situation is fast evolving, causing uncertainty for retailers and consumers alike, we\u2019re monitoring the data closely to identify emerging shopper behaviours and provide clear guidance as the situation evolves.\u201d<\/p>\n

The warning comes as Worldpanel by Numerator said grocery price inflation had eased slightly in the four weeks to March 22nd \u2013 from 6.8 per cent previously to 6.5 per cent. The figure compares to an inflation rate of 4.5 per cent this time last year.<\/p>\n

Take-home grocery sales in Ireland increased by 5.2 per cent on the same period last year.<\/p>\n

While in-store shopping was down 2.6 per cent year-on-year, packs per trip grew by 1.3 per cent over the four weeks as shoppers stocked up for St Patrick\u2019s Day and Mother\u2019s Day, and made preparations for Easter.<\/p>\n

Grocery inflation over the latest 12 weeks stood at 6.5 per cent, and shoppers responded by making smaller, more frequent trips to stores in a bid to manage household budgets, the data suggests.<\/p>\n

With sales on promotion down 16 per cent year on year, shoppers had fewer opportunities to manage costs through deals, contributing to smaller basket sizes overall.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur latest pressure group analysis reveals that 26 per cent of Irish shoppers now describe themselves as financially struggling,\u201d Healy said.<\/p>\n

The value share of own label products increased over the past 12 weeks, with the category now holding 46.5 per cent of the market, up nearly two percentage points on last month alone, while Irish shoppers have spent nearly an additional \u20ac76 million on these ranges year on year.<\/p>\n

Premium own label continued to perform strongly, with spending up nearly 12 per cent year-on-year. Brands similarly continued to grow in both value (4.3 per cent) and volume terms, albeit at a slower pace than own label. <\/p>\n

More than 12 per cent of Irish households picked up hot cross buns over the month of March, spending an additional \u20ac498,000 on the festive treats year-on-year. Nearly half of Irish household\u2019s also picked up an Easter egg in the run-up to the bank holiday weekend.<\/p>\n

In terms of market share, Dunnes<\/a> maintains its lead with 24.3 per cent share by value after value growth of 4.9 per cent in the latest 12 week period. <\/p>\n

Tesco <\/a>posted strong growth this period, with value sales up by 7.3 per cent for market share of 23.6 per cent.<\/p>\n

SuperValu<\/a>\u2019s value share stood at 19.3 per cent, which was up 0.2 per cent in value growth versus last year.<\/p>\n

Aldi <\/a>holds an 11.1 per cent share up 0.3 per cent in value growth versus last year while Lidl <\/a>grew its market share to 14.3 per cent up from 13.6 per cent in the previous period. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shoppers face higher grocery prices in the months ahead as fallout from the Middle East crisis feeds through…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373827,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[28994,72,943,28995,113,61,60,150432,16117,28993,4013],"class_list":{"0":"post-387092","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-aldi","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-cost-of-living","11":"tag-dunnes-stores","12":"tag-economy","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-israel-iran-conflict","16":"tag-lidl","17":"tag-supervalu","18":"tag-tesco"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}