Dunnes Stores, once the dominant player in the Irish Republic's I£6bn-plus grocery sector, has now slipped to third place, according to latest market share figures. A leaked version of confidential research carried out by Taylor Nelson shows that Tesco has strengthened its position as number one grocer, with its share increasing to almost 24%, helped by much publicised price cuts. But the big surprise is that its main rival has been overtaken by the Musgrave Group, which owns the franchise for the Centra and SuperValu stores. In the past year, according to the figures, Dunnes' grocery market share has fallen from 21.9% to 21.4%. Even with company revenues that are thought to be over I£1bn a year, this is a significant drop, given that half a percentage point in the market is estimated to be worth around I£35m. In the same period, the Musgrave Group's market share rose a full percentage point, from 20.8% to 21.8%. There are 320 Centra stores and 201 SuperValu outlets across the Republic, all individually owned and managed on a franchise basis, and benefiting from Musgrave's centralised purchasing and distribution network. While Musgrave refused to make any official comment on the figures, company sources maintained that its "real market share is higher than that, and much closer to Tesco". The sources pointed out that it was the Centra and SuperValu stores, rather than Dunnes, which hit back at Tesco with a major advertising campaign, challenging its pricecutting claims. Dunnes has been uncharacteristically restrained in the so-called price war, but it will be concerned about this erosion of its market share, and particularly by the fact that Tesco appears to have been the main beneficiary. The UK multiple now has Irish sales worth around I£1.15b. The latest figures show Feargal Quinn's Superquinn having more than 9% of the Irish market, while the newly arrived discount chains, Aldi and Lidl, have made litte impact so far, with less than 2% between them. {{NEWS }}

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