The average weekly grocery spend in Ireland has increased by 13%, from €91.38 in 2022 to €105.85 in 2023, coming to an increased spend of €752 over the entire year, research shows.
A recent survey by recipe box company HelloFresh has revealed that this surge is part of a wider trend of financial pressure, with 88% of people tightening their spending recently.
This includes 41% of people reducing the quality of their food they buy each week in an effort to lower costs.
Even with these cost-saving measures, over half of the respondents still spend more money than they’ve planned on their weekly shop.
Hannah Duxbury, Irish head of culinary of HelloFresh, said, "The results of our survey highlight the substantial financial pressure and time constraints that many are grappling with.”
Struggles
Furthermore, findings revealed that while 34% of people struggle to stick to a food budget, only 19% plan their weekly meals - a proven strategy to manage spending.
The survey uncovered that 52.24% of consumers spend more than they plan each week on groceries.
41.84% of those surveyed said that they have had to cut back on higher quality ingredients.
According to the research, grocery shoppers spend an average of 1.74 hours per week shopping for ingredients.
Read More: HelloFresh Beats Core Profit Forecasts As Customers Return
