The latest TNS Worldpanel grocery market share figures, have been published for the 12 weeks ending 13 July 2008.  Chris Longbottom, Director TNS Worldpanel, comments:” These figures reveal that the success of the discounters is continuing. The Discounters now account for a 5.9% share of Grocery Spending, higher than ever before reported, and they are also the fastest-growing sector of the market. The total grocery market continues to grow strongly (+7% year-on-year), fuelled partly by food price inflation and also by better performance for Supermarkets than other Retail Outlets.

“While the Discounters’ share in the UK has reached a new record, this level is still modest compared to the share they enjoy on the Continent (11% in France and 38% in Germany according to Europanel). Aldi and Lidl’s year-on-year growth stood at 20% and 14% respectively, reflecting their success in attracting more spend from hard-pressed shoppers, even though the majority of them still do most of their grocery shopping at the major supermarket chains.

“Among the Top 4, both Asda and Morrisons enjoyed 9% growth, ahead of the market and yielding higher shares than last year. Tesco’s growth of 7% and Sainsbury’s of 6% were still creditable but slightly behind the overall market resulting in small share erosion. Such performance is indicative of the overall buoyancy but intense competition within the Grocery Sector in the current economic climate.”