Grocery prices are 7.7% higher than they were a year ago, according to new research from Kantar.
That puts the rate of grocery price inflation at its highest level since August 2008, despite a 3.1% fall in grocery spending by consumers.
The latest grocery market figures from Kantar also show that many consumers are turning to cheaper, own-brand items in an attempt to reduce the impact of inflation.
It said that sales of own brand products grew by 1.5% in the 12 weeks to July 10th, representing a €19m increase in spending year-on-year.
Within that, Kantar said that sales of value-focused own brand products jumped by 9.7%.
That led to a fall in the sale of branded products, with that category down €72m year-on-year.
Branded goods now represent 47.6% of all grocery spend, according to Kantar, compared to 49.6% in 2020.
Own brand products also proved particularly popular with online shoppers, which was an area that also enjoyed growth in the period.
According to Kantar, online grocery sales were up 15% in the 12 weeks to mid-July.
The changes in grocery habits did to a further tightening in market share in the period, though.
Kantar's data shows that Tesco remains the biggest grocery brand by sales, with a 22% share of the market.
However Dunnes is close behind with a 21.9% share, while Supervalu holds a 21.5% stake.
Lidl, meanwhile grew its share of the market to 13.5%, while Aldi had a 12.6% share in the period.
