Morrisons and Sainsbury's growth outpaces Aldi, TNS reports

Sainsbury's and Morrisons increased their share of spend by 8.9 per cent and 9.3 per cent respectively in the 12 weeks ending June 14. While Aldi and Lidl also grew strongly, their advances of 8.7 per cent and 7.5 per cent were muted in comparison.

Upmarket grocer Waitrose achieved a seven per cent advance, helped by advertising for its Essentials range, and market leader Tesco notched up its highest growth this year of 6.2 per cent. Asda was up 8.2 per cent.

Market researcher Nielsen also reported strong growth of 8.4 per cent at Waitrose in its Scantrack data for the four weeks to June 13. Nielsen senior manager, retail services, Mike Watkins said that year on year almost 250,000 new shoppers visited Waitrose in the last four weeks and spend per visit climbed more than five per cent.

TNS Worldpanel director Ed Garner said: "There are several signs that shoppers have adopted a more measured response to the recession and have started to revert to pre-recession behaviour. In particular the stellar growth of Aldi and Lidl has tailed off".

The grocery sector as a whole grew by 6.5 per cent in the period and inflation fell to seven per cent according to TNS.