UK Grocers Shrug Off Recession

October 1, 2009

TNS Worldpanel grocery market share figures for the 12 weeks ending 6 September 2009 confirm the impression ‘recession panic’ is ebbing away as far as the grocery market is concerned.

This is not to imply all sectors of the High Street will instantly return to pre-recession growth, said TNS. Ed Garner, director, TNS Worldpanel, said: “Food remains a manageable proportion of most household budgets by historical standards and, it could be argued, the grocery sector suffered from an over-reaction at the end of 2008 when Aldi posted year-on-year sales growth of 26% and Waitrose saw a sales decline.”

Fast-forward to today and Waitrose is the top performer with a growth rate of 11.2% - the highest since August 2006.

While the gain will be boosted by the stores acquired from the Co-operative/Somerfield combination, it is hardly a sign of a rush downmarket, said Garner.

Growth for Aldi and Lidl continues to fall back from 2008 levels with Aldi growing ahead of the market at 8.0% and Lidl just keeping pace with the market growth of 5.2%.

Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons all continue to grow share and have added 1.1 share points between them.

Garner said it was too early to assess the impact of Tesco’s latest Clubcard promotion within this 12 week period and the retailer’s share remains under pressure.