Musgrave has cut the price of Kerrygold butter products in the latest stage of a burgeoning price war among Irish supermarkets.
The group said it would reduce the price of Kerrygold across its Supervalu and Centra stores by 9 per cent from Friday. The reductions will deliver savings of between 30 cent and 50 cent and will see a pound of Kerrygold drop from €5.49 to €4.99.
“We recognise that household budgets continue to be under pressure and are committed to passing on savings to customers,” the company said. “By working closely with our suppliers, we aim to deliver value where possible.”
Musgrave last month became the first supermarket group to announce a series of cuts across its butters, with cuts of up to 15 per cent on its SuperValu and Centra own brand butter ranges.
That was the latest step in a campaign that has seen most of the main grocers reduce price of household staples like milk and bread.
The grocery, retail and wholesale company said at that time that its reductions would deliver savings of up to 60 cent per pack on own-brand Irish butter products. It saw the price of all SuperValu and Centra one pound (454 gramme) own-brand butter products fall from €3.99 to €3.39, while its half pound (227g) packs sit at €2.09, down from €2.39.
German discounter Aldi responded swiftly, matching the Musgrave cut on its 454g own-brand butter. Lidl mirrored that move and, within days, Tesco did the same.
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Musgrave has 615 Centra and 258 SuperValu stores across Ireland, the majority of which are in the Republic. In 2024, it invested €60 million in revamps of stores.
The group also has 310 Daybreak locations in the Republic, 71 Mace shops in Northern Ireland and 91 Dialprix stores in Spain. These employ more than 44,000 people.
The group – which also owns the Donnybrook Fair and Daybreak franchises – saw turnover in 2024 reach €5.2 billion, a 4 per cent increase on the previous year. It made €2.6 million in profit each week as turnover reached a new high.
The Cork-headquartered supermarket and wholesale group’s accounts for that year, published last November, show pretax profits rose 5 per cent to €134.5 million from €116 million. It ended 2024 with €170.5 million in cash after paying a €22 million dividend to its shareholders, up from €20.8 million in 2023.