GROCERY PRICES increased by more than the general rate of inflation over the last year, a price comparison survey by the National Consumer Agency shows.
Between July 2010 and the start of this month, the cost of an identical basket of goods jumped more than 5 per cent in the State’s four main grocery retailers. The annual rate of inflation across all sectors currently stands at 2.7 per cent after reaching a 30-month high of 3.2 per cent in April.
A similar survey published last August showed that between January 2009 and July 2010, grocery prices fell by 14 per cent.
The survey compares prices across a basket of 92 commonly purchased branded products in Dunnes Stores, Tesco, Superquinn and SuperValu. It shows “price-matching” continues to be a feature, with more than a third of products costing the same across the five retailers. There was a price difference of just 3.4 per cent between the cheapest and the most expensive retailer.
Tesco and Dunnes Stores charged €262.37 and €262.41 respectively for the basket, a difference of just 4 cent, or 0.02 per cent. In Superquinn, the same items cost €3.44, or 1.3 per cent, more than Tesco.
The NCA surveyed two SuperValu stores, as it is the only one of the big four retailers which does not operate a policy of national pricing. Results for the two stores differed by just one cent, while the cheaper basket cost €271.26, or 3.4 per cent, more than Tesco.
Agency chef executive Ann Fitzgerald said: “It is striking that 37 per cent of individual products surveyed had identical prices across all five retailers.
“Rather than seeing the emergence of a real champion of better value, we observe that grocery retailers . . . remain tightly focused on matching, but not beating, the prices of their competitors.”
Special offers remain a feature. Only in Dunnes was there a notable decrease in special offers.
Meanwhile, market data from Kantar is showing a new dynamic. The latest Kantar data, covering 12 weeks ending June 12th, shows grocery price inflation at 3.9 per cent year on year, while the increase in consumer spending is 0.9 per cent.
This indicates that shoppers are responding to price increases either by buying more promotions, switching to own-brand or private-label equivalents or reducing the quantity purchased.
