No evidence of price gouging in supermarkets, says consumer watchdog
Publishing the findings of its latest analysis of the sector, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has said while food prices have increased significantly in recent years in Ireland, 'there is no evidence that competition is not working in the Irish grocery retail sector'.
'Food price increases have generally remained below the European average, which coincides with increasing competition in Ireland,' it said.
The data available on profit margins does not indicate that margins are notably high when compared to international comparators.
The CCPC said the rate of increase for grocery prices was at a slower pace than some of the key input costs, such as agricultural prices, which suggests competition in the market has helped to limit the impacts.
However, the review did point to 'upward pressures' in agricultural output prices in the last year as being an 'underlying factor in recent grocery inflation'.
Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore said price spikes in agri-food supply chains must be investigated, and said it was unacceptable the CCPC did not have access to all the relevant data for its analysis.
'Not all of the large supermarket chains publish their Irish profits,' she said.
'It is wholly unsatisfactory for the consumer regulator to be denied information that is necessary for it to do its job — and it is outrageous that the Government has not acted to force large supermarket chains to publish their profits.'
Households feeling the pinch
It all comes as households are still feeling the pinch to a much greater extent at the grocery tills, as new figures showed the cost of food was still rising at almost three times the rate of general inflation.
The latest Consumer Price Index from the Central Statistics Office showed prices have risen 1.7% across the Irish economy in the past 12 months, while food and non-alcoholic drinks rose 4.7% in the same period.
Consumers are also feeling a stronger pinch when it comes to eating and drinking out, according to the data. In the past 12 months, a drink in a pub has risen 3.7%, while the cost of restaurants, cafes, fast food and takeaways have risen 3.5%.
Digging into the CSO data, it shows many common purchases at supermarket checkouts have surged in price in the past year.
Beef and veal have risen by 23%, lamb and goat are up 17%, whole milk is up 12%, butter is up 19.4%, and chocolate has risen by 16%. Some of our favourite non-alcoholic tipples have also risen significantly, with coffee up 12.7% and fruit and vegetable juices up 7.4%.
Breaking some of them down by average price, CSO statistician Anthony Dawson said: 'There were price increases in the 12 months to July 2025 for a pound of butter (+€1.08), Irish cheddar per kg (+70c), two litres of full fat milk (+28c), an 800g loaf of white sliced pan (+5c), and an 800g loaf of brown sliced pan (+3c).'
In better news for consumers, the cost of transport (-2.8%) and clothing and footwear (-2.4%) have fallen in the past 12 months.
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The Journal
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Irish Independent
4 hours ago
- Irish Independent
US Congress members call for Ireland to be added to list of countries boycotting Israel if OTB passed
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Agriland
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