Watchdog calls for more supermarket competition
The similarity of prices for well-known goods across Ireland’s supermarket giants proves there is not enough competition, a consumer watchdog insisted today.
The National Consumer Agency (NCA) published the results of a survey which showed a basket of popular brands bought in three major stores varied by just 1.6% in price.
Ann Fitzgerald, Acting Chief Executive, believes the research would help customers shop around for the best value when getting their groceries.
“Worryingly, the price differential between Dunnes Stores, Tesco and Superquinn for the basket of 45 branded goods that were common to all three stores is only €2.20,” she said.
“This points to the fact that the Irish market is too concentrated. Of the 45 branded items that were common, 21 were the same price across all three outlets.”
There were only three products across the supermarket giants with a 20% or greater difference in price while eleven brands had a price differential of 5% or greater.
The survey also concluded the price difference between the supermarkets and the smaller convenience shops was up to 10.8% or €7.44 for a basket of branded goods.
While Supervalu’s prices were comparable to the Dunnes Stores, Tesco and Superquinn it was found that Eurospar was 7.4% more expensive, Centra 10.8% dearer and Spar was a significant 20.2% more expensive than the big three.
“The survey also shows that significant price differences exist in the symbol shops between Dublin and the rest of the country,” said Ms Fitzgerald.
“With the exception of Eurospar, whose Dublin branch was 1% cheaper than the Drogheda branch, prices in Dublin were more expensive than the rest of the country.”
These price differences between capital and country ranged from as little as 0.5% in the Supervalu shops to a more substantial 4.6% for the Centra shops and 10.3% for the Spar shops.
“By publishing this research we aim to empower consumers to allow them to make informed decisions when carrying out their day to day grocery shopping,” said Ms Fitzgerald.
“I would urge consumers to review the information and shop around to avail of the savings that can be made.”
The NCA chose 58 products from the Top 100 Brands list compiled by AC Nielsen for Checkout magazine for their survey.
The outlets used were Dunnes Stores, Tesco, Superquinn, Supervalu, Centra, Spar and Eurospar with comparisons carried out on a regional basis using retail groups in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Drogheda.
The survey is the first tranche of research into grocery prices carried out by the NCA and a further survey will take place towards the end of the year which will include non-branded goods available in multiple and symbol group retailers.
