It seems Irish shoppers were not bothered by the summer sunshine, as sun care sales were down 41.5% in the 12 weeks to August 11th.

New figures from Kantar show the overall grocery sector increased by 2.7% in the latest period, as cooler weather led to a deviation from typical seasonal spend.

Shoppers made larger but less frequent grocery trips, and the average spend per shop increased by 84 cents to €23.29.

Ice-cream and sun care sales were down 17.0% and 41.5% respectively - however wine, which is usually more popular in colder months, grew by 13.7%.

All the major retailers took advantage of this - with Tesco particularly benefiting by ramping up promotions in the sector.

Kantar said the proportion of wine bought on deal at Tesco increased from 29.6% to 43.8% - resulting in category growth of 14.9% for the retailer.

Aldi and Lidl continued to see growth this month.

Aldi's growth of 12.7% helped it achieve a record market share of 12.6%.

While Dublin remains a key area for the retailer, Munster and the rest of Leinster are still its heartland and contributed two-thirds of its overall sales increase.

Lidl now accounts for 12% of Irish grocery sales, and is also particularly popular in Munster - where it increased sales by 12.1%.

Single-use plastics

Scrutiny over single-use plastic was a major trend this period, with retailers seeking to adapt to changing consumer preferences.

Charlotte James is consumer insight director at Kantar.

She said: "Aldi's ban on black plastic trays for fruit and veg packaging and SuperValu's move to 100% compositable shopping bags are direct responses to a change in shopper habits.

"Many consumers are already making the shift towards more sustainable choices.

"For example, loose fruit sales grew by 6.4% in the latest 12 weeks as pre-packed alternatives declined by 2.3%.

"Lidl has made the most headway in this respect and sold 23% of its fruit loose, the highest proportion of all the retailers."

Source: Kantar

Fresh produce as a whole was a clear focus for all the grocers this period.

Dunnes, Tesco and Lidl attempted to demonstrate value through a mix of 49 cent price points - while SuperValu and Aldi continued to offer discounts on different product ranges.

Dunnes, Ireland's largest grocer again this month, enjoyed success with sales of fruit, veg and salads growing by 2.9% - ahead of the market rate.

SuperValu also improved its performance this period, with sales decline softening to 0.3%.

As the market moved towards less frequent but bigger shopping trips, SuperValu capitalised with a 10.3% increase in the average spend per shop.

However cross-border spend increased by 14% compared with this time last year, as Brexit uncertainties and sterling's struggles continued.