Promotions at supermarkets have kept food inflation in check in February as spending on deals rose again last month, according to the latest data out this morning from Kantar.
Take-home sales at the mults rose by 3.6% in the four weeks to 23 February year on year, growing slightly faster than inflation of 3.3%.
Kantar said that items bought on offer accounted for 27.6% of sales, a rise of 0.3 percentage points on last year, while premium own label lines continued to be popular with shoppers, growing at 13.3%.
Asda also continued to struggle, the latest data revealed, with the troubled chain being the only supermarket to register a decline in sales over the most recent 12-week period.
The group saw sales decline by 5% in the 12 weeks to 23 Feburary, while Yorkshire rival Morrisons managed a rise of 0.7%.
Ocado remained the fastest-growing retailer for the 10th consecutive month with spending increasing by 9.6% – holding its share of the market at 1.9%. M&S also continued its growth trajectory with grocery sales climbing by 12.2% across its bricks-and-mortar stores.
Aldi accelerated its growth by attracting 377,000 more shoppers through its doors. The discounter achieved a market share of 10.3% following a 4.9% rise in sales – its highest rate since January 2024. Lidl also saw its portion of the market rise by 0.3 percentage points to 7.3% compared with February 2024, with sales up by 8.1%.
Sainsbury’s made gains in the 12 weeks to 23 February, increasing its share of the market from 15.5% to 15.7% compared with this time last year. And Tesco recorded a 5.8% jump in sales.
Convenience retailer Co-op remained in growth, giving it a market share of 5.1%. Waitrose’s sales increased by 3.2%, helped by almost 200,000 additional shoppers. Spending at frozen food specialist Iceland was 0.7% higher, maintaining a share of 2.3% – the same as this time last year.
Kantar also looked at how shopping habits have shifted since the Covid pandemic to mark the five-year anniversary of the first lockdown.
Sally Ball, head of retail at Kantar, said: “Back in 2020, we didn’t know just how big an impact the Covid-19 pandemic would have on our lives, but five years on we can get a picture of its lingering effects on consumers. We haven’t gone back to old patterns and shopping trips remain below pre-pandemic times. Households made one less visit to the supermarket in February 2025 than in 2020, while online shopping appears to have stuck, taking a 12.3% market share this month versus 8.6% in February 2020.
“One of the most interesting changes has been a move to simpler eating habits as we look for convenient shortcuts to make our lives easier. People are taking less time to prepare meals, and prep time in the evening, for example, has declined from almost 34 minutes in 2020 to 31 minutes in 2024.”
Kantar consumption data also showed that people are now using fewer different ingredients when making food, both at lunch and in the evening. Consumers are snacking less often too, dropping more than 330 million occasions in 2024 versus 2020.
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