Co-op Food continues to grow in a stable set of retail figures

The latest grocery figures from Kantar Worldpanel show more good news for the Co-op Group in a relatively stable set of results. For the second period in a row, the...

The latest grocery figures from Kantar Worldpanel show more good news for the Co-op Group in a relatively stable set of results.

For the second period in a row, the Co-op’s food stores achieved a 3.3% growth in sales. Its market share continued to increase, up 0.2 percentage points to 6.3%. The results show the Co-op just managing to stay ahead of Lidl and Aldi’s consumer spend, although the discounters were once again the fastest growing retailers – up 14.2% and 11.4% respectively.

Waitrose achieved a record market share in the figures
Waitrose achieved a record market share in the figures

Waitrose – part of the worker-owned John Lewis Partnership – achieved a record share of the grocery market with 5.3%.

The figures cover the 12 weeks ending 22 May 2016 and show the market to have been essentially flat over the period, with growth increasing by just 0.1% and food price deflation remaining at 1.5%.

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Edward Garner, director at Kantar Worldpanel, said: “While the big four are struggling to keep their market share, what’s clear is that consumers aren’t flocking away from their stores – their combined shopper numbers have dropped only 0.2% in the latest 12 weeks. In fact, 94% of Aldi and Lidl shoppers still visit at least one of the four major retailers every four weeks.

“However, consumers’ spend is increasingly being shared with other growing outlets which also include Waitrose, the Co-operative and Iceland and average household spend for the big four has dropped by 2.9%.”

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Sales went down at each of the big four (Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons), with Tesco posting the smallest drop in sales (1.0%) and Asda the largest (5.1%).

Along with the good performance of Waitrose, a notable aspect of the figures is the increased popularity of premium brands, even among the discounter retailers. Aldi’s Specially Selected label grew by 15% and Lidl’s Deluxe range increased by a 65%.

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