Back to school spending helped drive take-home grocery sales up by 6.1% in the four weeks to 7 September 2025, according to our latest data. With many parents preparing for the new term, store visits increased by 0.7%, although shoppers picked up fewer packs per trip. Overall, shoppers spent an additional €68.8 million on groceries compared with the same period last year.
Grocery price inflation now stands at 6.3% over the latest 12-week period, up from 5.4% in the previous 12 weeks, yet Irish shoppers have continued to enjoy everything summer has to offer before the arrival of winter.
As the new school term began in early September, we saw spending on typical lunchbox staples increase across many households with children. Over the latest four-week period, shoppers spent an additional €5.3 million on sweet bakery items, fresh fruit, breakfast cereals and porridge, savoury snacks and yoghurt. Convenience is also a priority, with an extra €1.6 million spent on fresh and frozen ready meals and cooking sauces compared with last year.
Households with children also made greater use of online shopping, spending an additional €6.6 million compared with the previous month. They also added €1.2 million more to their baskets on sliced meats, yoghurts, breakfast cereals and biscuits as they stocked up for school lunches.
Shoppers took advantage of promotions too, spending €758 million on promotional lines during the latest 12-week period, an increase of 8.2% on the previous year. Promotional spending now makes up 21.5% of all grocery sales. Key categories driving this growth included laundry, water, squash and smoothies, all of which performed ahead of the total market for promotional lines.
Autumn brings big boost for brands
While brands have grown behind the total market (+5.8%) with growth slowing to 3.9% in the last 12-week period, Irish shoppers still spent an additional €62.6 million on branded products.
Own label saw stronger growth at 6.6%, with premium own label the standout performer, up 16.2%. Shoppers spent nearly €19.4 million extra on these ranges. Premium own label lines saw a boost in confectionery (+18.4%), soft drinks (+24.8%) and alcohol (+36%) over the last 12 weeks.
Brands currently hold 47.2% value share of the total market, while own label holds 46.9% value share.
Retailer and channel performance
Online continued to gain ground, with sales rising 6.3% year on year to take 5.8% value share of the market. Shoppers spent an additional €12 million online during the period, helped by an influx of new customers who contributed €7.7 million to overall performance. Nearly 18% of Irish households bought their groceries online during this time.
Dunnes holds 23.9% market share, up on the last 12-week period, with slowing sales growth of 6.1% year-on-year.
Tesco holds 23.7% of the market, with value growth of 6.4% year-on-year. Shoppers increased their trips to stores by 1.3% and, together with new shoppers, contributed an additional €23.7 million to the grocer’s overall performance.
SuperValu holds 19.5% of the market with growth of 4.9%. Consumers made the most shopping trips to this grocer, averaging 24.7 trips over the latest 12 weeks, up 9.6% year-on-year. The increase in shopping trips contributed an additional €61.6 million to its performance.
Lidl holds 14.2% of the market with growth of 9.5%, the fastest growth among all retailers. Lidl also saw shoppers pick up more volume in store, up 2.5%, contributing an additional €11.5 million to overall performance.
Aldi holds 11.6% market share, up 4.7%. Increased store trips and new shoppers drove an additional €16.1 million in sales.
