Morrisons outstripped as fastest growing Big Four supermarket

Morrisons has been outstripped by Tesco as the fastest growing of the Big Four supermarkets, as the market heats up outside of the aisles.

Despite the success of its ‘The Best’ range, which helped increase premium own-label sales by 13%, Bradford-based Morrisons was overtaken by Tesco as the fastest growing of the Big Four.

For the 12 weeks ending 16 July 2017, sales rose 2.1% at Morrisons, behind Tesco and Sainsbury’s at 2.2 and 2.3% respectively.

Yorkshire rival Asda saw growth for the fourth consecutive period, attracting an additional 398,000 new shoppers to increase sales by 1.0% year-on-year.

The Leeds-based grocer’s ‘Farm Stores’ meat and produce lines, launched in April 2017, are now finding their way into just over a quarter of Asda’s baskets, generating sales of over £58m.

Outside the aisles, the Big Four have been looking at other ways to expand their offering. The proposed aquisitions of Booker by Tesco sparked a renewed interest in convienience and the wholesale sectors, with Sainsbury’s following suit with a bid for Scunthorpe’s Nisa Retail. Asda has been thrown in the mix as a potential buyer for discounter B&M, putting them in direct price competition with major European rivals Lidl and Aldi.

Lidl was once again Britain’s fastest growing supermarket, increasing sales by 19.4% – its strongest growth since October 2014 and with a record market share of 5.1%. Close behind, Aldi’s sales grew by 17.9%, increasing its share of the market by 0.8 percentage points to 7.0%.

Overall supermarket sales increased by 3.9% compared to the same period last year and market growth has exceeded 3% for the fourth consecutive period – the first time since November 2013.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel, said: “One year on from the EU referendum – which had a marked impact on the price of imported groceries – hard-pressed shoppers could soon start to feel upward pricing pressures ease.”

Iceland’s market share remained static year on year at 2.1%, with sales increasing by 5.7%, while Waitrose and Co-op saw sales growth of 2.8% and 0.4% respectively. Online specialist Ocado grew sales by 11.7%, holding its overall market share stable at 1.3%.