// Aldi and Lidl sales rise as shoppers seek more ways to cut costs
// Sales of wonky veg rising as cost-of-living concerns continue to affect shoppers
Customers are shopping more with discounters Aldi and Lidl as they seek out wonky veg to save on money during the cost-of-living crisis.
Take-home grocery sales rose by 4.8% in the 12 weeks to 2 October, while grocery price inflation has hit another new peak, according to Kantar.
Grocery inflation now stands at 13.9%, a record high since Kantar began tracking prices in this way during the 2008 financial crash.
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For the fifth month in a row, Lidl was the fastest growing grocer this period, pushing up its sales by 20.9% during the period.
Lidl was marginally ahead of rival Aldi whose sales rose by 20.7%. Its share of the market is now 7.1%, up from 6.2% last year while Aldi moved to 9.3% from 8%.
Kantar said that shoppers are finding other ways to get the items they want for less. One way is shopping for “visually imperfect” fruit and vegetables, which allows consumers to buy fresh products at a cheaper price.
Many shoppers have been buying from ranges like Tesco Perfectly Imperfect. The range along with Morrisons’ Naturally Wonky’s sales were up collectively by 38% this month.
Meanwhile, sales of supermarket own label lines continue to grow as consumers move away from branded products.
Own label sales increased by 8.1% this month, while branded items declined by 0.7%.
Big Four supermarket Asda saw sales boosted by 4.5% during the period.
It has attracted 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.
Sales at Sainsbury’s rose by 3% and at Tesco 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% respectively.
Convenience retailer Co-op also held market share flat year-on-year at 6.4%, with its sales growing by 3.3%. Waitrose’s market share is now 4.7%.
