Ireland’s grocery market continued to grow in the 12 weeks to 11 August 2019, according to the latest supermarket share figures from Kantar. The growth is against predictions, coming against a challenging backdrop of summer 2018’s unprecedented weather and major sporting events, both of which were a major boost to sales.

The overall grocery sector increased by 2.7% in the latest period, with cooler weather leading to a deviation from typical spending for this time of year. Kantar’s report explains how shoppers made larger, but less frequent grocery trips, and the average spend per shop increased by 84c to €23.29.

Charlotte James, consumer insight director at Kantar, broke down the report into more specific segments. “Ice cream and sun care sales were down 17% and 41% respectively,” she said, “while wine, which is usually more popular in colder months, grew by 13.7%.