| Supermarket giants SuperValu, Tesco, and Centra are all set to lower the price of Kerrygold products in the coming months. Musgrave, parent company to SuperValu and Centra, announced reductions of up to 9 per cent across the entire Kerrygold range, citing considerations of rising grocery costs as their primary motivator. Tesco quickly followed suit, introducing a similar reduction of 50 cents per pound of Kerrygold butter. This marks the continuing trend of supermarkets vying to win customer retention by marketing price reductions in specific areas, in this case, butter. In December, SuperValu, Centra, Aldi, and Lidl all reduced the price of their respective own-brand butter range.
Reductions like these offer some relief to the consumer at a time where the cost of living continues to increase. Recent years have seen shocking levels of inflation reflected in exorbitant costs of everyday items. While inflation has fallen to 2.6 per cent from its 9.2 per cent peak in October 2022, grocery prices continue to rise well above inflation, with the Central Statistics Office figures reporting a 6 per cent increase year-on-year. What is behind the rise of supermarket costs? Leaders of the agricultural sector and supermarkets themselves blame a variety of factors: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine driving up energy prices; continual post-Covid economic slump; large companies being saddled with increasing tax burdens. But, if major retailers like SuperValu and Tesco can afford to make price cuts of this nature, to what extent are supermarket prices beyond the control of the retailer? Rather, there is a growing discourse, particularly online, surrounding the opportunist economic practices of private supermarkets. Some have come to believe that while inflation is contributing to rising costs, supermarkets are taking advantage of inflation rates to widen their profit margins, increasing food prices beyond inflation while blaming the increase on the economy. In defence of the food industry, Dale Crammond, director of Meat Industry Ireland, says this argument “lacks supporting evidence”. To support this, Crammond points to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), which conducts analysis into the Irish grocery retail sector to monitor the practices of private supermarkets. In its latest report, the CCPC concluded that there was no evidence to suggest that market competition was not working adequately between supermarkets. It is true to say that competition is being upheld within the grocery retail sector. Aldi’s latest marketing campaign is a perfect example of this. Advertisements have cropped up at bus stops, billboards, and even trucks, taking swipes at Aldi’s competitors. One Aldi truck, parked outside Tesco in Rathmines, reads “price matching is something you do when your prices are too high”, a clear reference to Tesco’s “Aldi Price Match” scheme, which sees the two retailers battle it out for which can deliver the lowest prices. As the entire grocery sector suffers at the hands of inflation, marketing departments have focused their advertising on low prices, rather than the quality of their products. ADVERTISEMENT
Evidently market competition is not dead. But that is not necessarily an indication that these companies, even professed budget supermarkets, such as Aldi, are not raking in increasing amounts of profit. While the CCPC does monitor the practices of these supermarkets, many have begun to question the validity of their reports. In the Republic of Ireland, corporations are under no legal obligation to make their financial accounts public. Consequently, neither the public nor the CCPC has access to the profit margins of such corporations. So, while retailers are able to shift the blame for price hikes, they are able to rake in increasing amounts of profit without disclosing it. This is an issue repeatedly raised by Social Democrat TD Jennifer Whitmore, who has called on Parliament to mandate all Irish-operating supermarkets with annual turnovers above €10 million to publish fully audited financial accounts. As of September 2025, Dunnes in Northern Ireland experienced a profit increase of 44 per cent, whereas in the Republic of Ireland, Dunnes profit increases are completely hidden from the public. This, Whitmore argues, is a major contributor to the cost of living problem currently facing Ireland. Throughout Europe there has been a growing debate surrounding transparency in corporate accounts. Supermarket heads have repeatedly defended themselves from accusations of price gouging, pointing to inflation and economic hardship as explanations for food prices. Whether or not this argument has any merit to it, the numbers should be allowed to speak for themselves. It seems that a further degree of transparency in company accounts is a win-win situation for the consumer. Publishing low profit margins would surely defend supermarkets from growing public criticisms about alleged price gouging, thus restoring customer trust and loyalty. Inversely, publishing record high profits would expose opportunist retail practices which blame price hikes on external factors. Public access to this information would curb such unethical business practices, as consumer purchasing power could be efficiently utilised. If consumers were made aware of the finances of opportunistic supermarket giants, backlash and public pressure could certainly prevent this from continuing unchecked. Currently, the only relief customers have from the ever-rising cost of living is the small reductions supermarket giants, like SuperValu, choose to implement in their shops. While this is generally a small victory for the weekly shopper, in the longer term it is imperative that consumers are not just left at the mercy of retailers. With more transparency will come more customer agency, and with that, hopefully, a slower rate of grocery price inflation. While business transparency isn’t a one fix solution, it is a change desperately needed in an economy not built to benefit customers. |
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Mar 10, 2026
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Photo from The Blue Diamond Gallery
