The inflation rate has jumped 14% in the past twelve months. This time last year, that same figure was just 2.4%.

According to the figures, take-home grocery sales more than doubled in the four weeks to 19th February 2023. Meanwhile, value sales increased by 10.2%, compared to 5% in January.

The figures showed Irish consumers to be shopping little and often, with average volume per grocery store visit down 10.9%, and frequency of grocery shopping up 7%.

As a result of this inflation, Irish shoppers spent an additional €113.56 per buyer when compared with the same period last year.

Consumers spent €2.3m more on vegetables year-on-year, however volumes declined by 9.5% due to issues with supply chains leading to a shortage in popular fruits and vegetables. The volume of cucumbers and tomatoes – the two most heavily impacted goods – fell significantly by 17.2% and 8.9% respectively year-on-year.

Valentine’s Day shoppers spent an additional €1.2m on wine, €1.5m on chilled desserts and €3.8m on chilled ready meals. Consumers also spent an additional €326,000 on gifting chocolate. While Easter has already hit the shops, Irish consumers are yet to stock up on Easter Eggs with sales of seasonal chocolate down 29% year-on-year.

Pancake Tuesday also saw shoppers spending more, with sales of flour, eggs, butter and chocolate spread up 11.9%, 29.6%, 19.5% and 55.5% respectively.

The figures also showed shoppers opting for own-label products over name brands, with owl-label products growing 11.9% compared to brand products’ growth of 6.1%.