The UK grocery market has grown at its fastest rate since September 2013, with all 10 major retailers in growth for the first time in three and a half years.
Figures from Kantar Worldpanel, for the 12 weeks to 23 April, show the market up by 3.7 per cent, adding an additional £1 billion in sales to the sector.
The market was boosted by a strong Easter, and while price inflation has been a factor, the current inflation rate of 2.6 per cent is still below the average level seen in 2010-2014.
Premium own-label lines are continuing to see major growth, with Morrisons’ The Best line performing particularly well, according to Kantar head of retail and consumer insight Fraser McKevitt. But while that has helped Morrisons become the fastest-growing of the big-four retailers, it is still growing behind the overall market and Morrisons’ total market share has slipped 0.2 percentage points to 10.4 per cent.
Asda increased year-on-year sales for the first time since October 2014 thanks to a quarter of a million additional shoppers and a strong performance online, though its overall share fell by 0.4 percentage points to 15.6 per cent.
And Sainsbury’s sales rise of 1.7 per cent is the best it has seen since June 2014, with growth coming from all three channels – its Local convenience stores, larger supermarkets and online. At a category level, Sainsbury’s is performing well in the fresh and chilled aisles, with fruit, vegetables and salads up by 2.6 per cent, suggesting its ‘Food Dancing’ campaign is resonating with consumers eager to try more scratch cooking.
Elsewhere the discounters continued to grow ahead of the market, with sales at Iceland, Aldi and Lidl rising by 9.3, 18.3 and 17.8 per cent respectively.
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