With grocery inflation at a “record high” consumers are favouring own label lines over branded products. Own label sales increased by 8.1% in September, while branded items declined by 0.7%, according to Kantar’s latest figures.
Kantar’s head of retail and consumer insight Fraser McKevitt, believes that this is because the average household is facing a £643 rise in their annual grocery bill which would mean it totals £5,265 assuming that people continue to buy the same items. In the third quarter of 2022 take-home grocery sales rose by 4.8% while grocery inflation currently stands at 13.9%, a claimed “record high”. McKevitt added, “Taking that at a basket level, that’s an extra £3.04 on top of the cost of the average shopping trip last year which was £21.89.”
The outcome of this is that shoppers are now looking for ways to manage budget better in order to avoid paying more for their shopping. They are searching for cheaper alternatives like supermarkets’ own label goods. Despite the change in buying habits, it doesn’t look like diet has changed. Whilst frozen veg sales have gone up slightly, retailers haven’t seen a mass exodus from fresh products, which are still worth ten times more.
Leading retailers
According to Kantar’s data, Lidl was the fastest growing grocer for the 5th month in a row, pushing up its sales by 20.9% over the 12-weeks, slightly infront of Aldi whose sales rose by 20.7%. Lidl’s share of the market is now 7.1% which is an increase from 6.2% last year, and by contrast, Aldi rose to 9.3% from 8.0%.
Kantar’s figures recorded that sales at Sainsbury’s rose by 3.0% and Tesco increased by 2.5%, while Morrisons saw sales fall by 3.9%. Both Iceland and Ocado grew by 5.3%, “slightly ahead of the market to maintain their market shares” at 2.3% and 1.6%. Convenience retailer Co-op also held market share flat year-on-year at 6.4%, with its sales growing by 3.3% and Waitrose’s market share is now 4.7%.
McKevitt added: “Asda led the way among the biggest traditional supermarkets, boosting sales by 4.5%. It has done particularly well to attract new shoppers over the latest 12-weeks, bringing an additional 417,000 customers through its doors compared with last year. The retailer’s new ‘Just Essentials’ range continues to help it drive growth with nearly two thirds of its 15.2 million shoppers picking up at least one item from the line.”
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Details in this article first appeared on Kantar.com
The article also appeared on Food Management Today