SuperValu and German discounters Aldi and Lidl were the winners in the Christmas grocery trade battle.
SuperValu attracted 43,000 more households over the holiday season, according to figures from Kantar Worldpanel Ireland, helping the retailer post sales growth of 1.3% for the twelve weeks to the beginning of January.
It brought its market share to over 20% for the first time since October 2009.
Aldi and Lidl both posted double-digit growth in the final 12 weeks of the year.
Aldi posted growth of over 20% bringing its market share to 7.1%, while Lidl's market share stood at 6.4%.
Tesco remains the market leader but has lost ground with its market share falling from 27.8% last year to 26.2% now.
The sales decline is showing signs of slowing with a slight improvement from a 6.5% dip in October to 6.2% in the latest period.
Dunnes' sales dropped by 0.9% compared with last year, resulting in a slight dip in market share to 23.9% following four months of positive sales growth for the retailer.
Price inflation dropped from 3.4% last month to 2.9%, helped by the pre-Christmas 'vegetable wars' seen in a number of retailers.
The price of vegetables dropped considerably, with shoppers buying 4% more compared with last Christmas, despite spending 10% less.
Grocery inflation stands at 2.9% for the 12 week period, down from the 3.4% seen last period.
Tesco opens new Gorey store
Tesco opened a new Tesco Extra Store in Gorey, Co Wexford today with the creation of 50 new jobs.
The existing Tesco store closed on Saturday with its more than 100 staff transferring to the new outlet.
The new jobs bring to 168 the number of people working at Tesco in Gorey.
