Bite-Sized Insights: Parents Say Shopping Around is the Only Way to Get Good Value on Groceries

Inflation in Ireland is now running at 5.5 per cent, which is its highest level since April 2001 and Irish households are facing the biggest cost-of-living squeeze in decades. With this in mind, we decided to ask parents about their weekly grocery shop. Take a quick read of this week’s bite-sized insights to find out what parents are saying about grocery prices in 2022.

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We asked our Insights panel of parents to tell us the cost of their average weekly grocery bill and here’s how they answered:

From the feedback parents are spending an average of €144 a week on their main grocery shop and for every extra member in the household the bill goes up by €21

Any other thoughts on grocery shopping? Comments from our panel members included:

“Yes, it’s getting more expensive. I have started shopping in several supermarkets in order to get the best value for money. I spend Thursday evenings creating my menu & lists for the week. Friday morning my shopping takes from 9.30 to 12.30 to get to all the shops. We live 25km from the supermarkets, so I only go once a week. Milk bread etc. all frozen so I don’t have to go in between times. Shopping is never less than €180 per week.”

“Lidl for best value. Some good deals on named brands in Dunnes/SuperValu and can do well with the Dunnes €10 off €50.”

“I shop around in all the different supermarkets to try to keep the cost down. However it is still over €150 every week and I have noticed an increase on some of the essentials that I buy.”

“We find we are constantly having to shop around for the best offers to keep our shopping on budget. We meal plan and don’t overspend but it is still a struggle especially with extra school and work lunches and the midweek top up of milk etc. We even noticed a significant rise in the cost of grocery shopping in shops such as Aldi where it was almost equivalent to Tesco and Dunnes in cost.”

“It’s becoming more and more expensive and it’s hard to get certain products for weeks on end and then a surge of the same product since Brexit and COVID causing delivery issues.”

“Price really depends on where you choose to shop, a lot of people have an attitude about certain stores but often the quality, choices and value are much better. Definitely pays to shop around and see which store suits you best based on what you’re looking for.”

“Have to keep to a budget each week but feel some weeks not we’re not buying an adequate amount of food when we have to pay for non food items e.g household products.”

Key Takeaways for Grocery Retailers:

Parents are telling us they are feeling the pinch when it comes to the weekly shop, with many carefully controlling their budgets. Content around meal planning and budgeting could help you stand out to parents in this busy market.
Understanding what categories are likely to stick in the basket and which will be dropped when prices keep increasing is going to be key for what you offer this valuable segment this year. Sense-checking with parents should be part of your ongoing strategy this year.
When was the last time you talked to parents about your loyalty scheme or discounts/offers you communicate? We can help find out what they think and what they do (or don’t) value so your scheme/offers can be on point this year.