A large drop in market share by the UK's third largest supermarket chain, Asda, is the main headline from the most recent retailer sales data compiled by Kantar.
In the past year, Asda's market share has fallen from 13.7% to 12.6%. That is down from 17.2% a decade ago, when the Leeds-based retailer was in second spot after Tesco.
Tesco is still at number one with its market share increasing from 27% to 27.6% over the past year. Sainsbury's has gained ground too – up by 0.5% to 15.3%.
Asda
In recent years, the standout supermarket performer has been Aldi, but it lost 0.2% market share this year, settling at 10%.
That contrasts with 0.4% market share growth by rival German retailer Lidl to 8.1%.
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Online retailer Ocado's sales were 11.3% more in the latest 12-week reporting period compared to last year, making it the fastest growing grocer in percentage terms, with upmarket supermarket Waitrose also posting strong growth.
The market share figures are the latest blow for Asda, which recently reported a 5.3% decline in sales in the second quarter of the year.
Chief finance officer Michael Gleeson said: "We continue to make progress by investing in bringing our quality and value offering to more customers across the UK, with Asda's food price inflation trending lower than the market.
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"However, we also know that there are some areas where we can and need to improve."
Company chair Stuart Rose described the results as embarrassing and suggested part-owner Mohsin Issa step back as chief executive. Mohsin and his brother Zuber bought the retailer for £6.8 billion in 2020 along with private equity company TDR capital. Zuber is reported to be selling his 22.5% stake to TDR.
The difficulties have prompted the GMB union to call on it to take urgent action to protect jobs and shoppers. In a statement, Nadine Houghton, from the national office at the union, said: "Asda's plummeting market share is entirely down to TDR Capital's financial mismanagement and Asda is now in a fight for survival.
"It is time for TDR Capital to get serious – more than 150,000 jobs are on the line if they get this wrong. TDR must start listening to its workers to arrest this worrying and dramatic decline."
Fast food
Supermarkets were not the only ones seeing subdued British food sales. Demand at fast food chains was down, with KFC reporting a 3% decline in UK sales in the second quarter and a 2% decline over the year.
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European demand for Pizza Hut was 6% down in the quarter, although global sales for Yum, which owns both brands was up 3%.
McDonalds saw a 1% decline in global sales in the three months to the end of June 2024, the first quarterly year-on-year decline since Q3 2022.
Market watcher Meaningful Vision found that footfall had fallen in fast food restaurants had fallen in the year to May, but there has been a recovery after chains offered discounts and promotions.
"The use of promotions is growing as a key tool to generate additional traffic, which has not been growing," chief executive Maria Vanifatova told the BBC.
Meaningful Vision said that the number of promotions in fast-food restaurants, bakeries and coffee shops was up a third between April and June.
