Sinn Féin has blamed “human error” for three party TDs incorrectly referring to Irish supermarket chain SuperValu as being part of a US company.
During a Dáil debate on supermarket profits last week, the party’s finance spokesman Pearse Doherty as well as TD Paul Donnelly named US firm United Natural Foods as the parent of SuperValu.
Another TD, Máire Devine, claimed an increase in “SuperValu’s stock by nearly 61 per cent” in an apparent reference to the performance of United Natural Foods shares.
While United Natural Foods owns a SuperValu chain in the US, it is not connected to the Irish business. SuperValu in Ireland is owned by Cork-based Musgrave. It is not listed on any stock exchange.
[ Who owns SuperValu? Don’t ask Sinn FéinOpens in new window ]
A Sinn Féin spokesman put the gaffe down to “human error,” while adding that it should have been caught before the debate took place.
It is understood that a Sinn Féin staff member searched for SuperValu in Google Finance and incorrectly took the result tied to United Natural Foods.
The mistake threatened to undermine the party’s points during the debate around food prices, which have continued to rise even as wider inflation has slowed.
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Consumer prices rose 1.8 per cent in June, according to Central Statistics Office data, down from 2.2 per cent in April and less than half the 4.1 per cent increase in January 2024. Still food prices are up sharply.
[ Grocery prices now climbing by more than 5% new figures showOpens in new window ]
The price of groceries in supermarkets rose 5.3 per cent in the 12 weeks to the end of June, according to Kantar Worldpanel.
Over the course of a year, price inflation of 5 per cent will add close to €400 to a typical household’s grocery spend.
In a sign that shoppers are becoming more price conscious, the Kantar data showed that spending on promotional offers rose 17.6 per cent.
SuperValu has a 20.3 per cent share of the Irish supermarket sector, trailing Dunnes Stores and Tesco.
