Sales of baking ingredients are plunging as people return to the office following the end of lockdown, latest figures of grocery shopping trends indicate.
Analysts who compile the data announced: “People are baking less as they return to busier routines.
“Sales of flour, eggs and chocolate spreads are all down over the past four weeks.”
Kantar, which monitors the household grocery purchasing habits of 5,000 demographically representative households across the country, released the figures for the 12 weeks ending February 20.
As well as the baking drop-off, these show that online grocery sales have fallen by 15% over the last four weeks, as shoppers return to physical stores; that take-home grocery sales have declined by 4.5%, but still remain 11.1% higher than two years ago before the pandemic took hold; and that grocery price inflation has reached 2.4%, marking the seventh consecutive month of rising prices.
Emer Healy, senior retail analyst at Kantar, said: “With convenient options on the rise, home baking is clearly lower on shopper’s agendas.
“Sales of flour, eggs and chocolate spreads were all down 27.6%, 20.6% and 35% respectively in the last four weeks.”
She explained: “People are finding their feet in their new routines, with many juggling commuting and socialising again after months at home.
“Shoppers spent an additional €4.3 million on chilled convenience items like pizzas and ready meals over the latest month, as families turned to quick and easy meal options to feed the kids while schools were out over mid-term week.”
She added: “Prices are rising across the board and that’s really being felt at the grocery tills. We’re now starting to see this reflected in shopper behaviour.
“People are trying to drive down the cost of their weekly shop.
“And supermarkets have been quick to respond to growing concerns over the cost of living through targeted ad campaigns and voucher schemes.
“These kinds of tactics will only become more important as grocers battle for the biggest slice of consumer spend.”
The latest data from Kantar show that Dunnes has retained its position as Ireland’s largest grocer this month, holding 23% of the market.
It is followed by SuperValu (22%), Tesco (21.9%), Lidl (12.2%) and Aldi (11.7%).
All these major retailers saw take-home grocery sales fall in the 12 weeks to February 20, compared with last year, according to Kantar.
The company also said that inflation during this period is up by 2.4% when compared to the same 12-week period ending February 20, 2021.
A Kantar spokesperson added: “This is the highest level of inflation since June 2020.”
