Coca-Cola remains the real thing among brands in Ireland

Coca-Cola is the top-selling brand in the Irish grocery market for the 10th year in a row, according to a trade report.

Two Irish brands take the next two spots on the Top 100 brands report compiled by Checkout, a trade magazine, in conjunction with the market research firm Nielsen. Avonmore milk consolidates its position as number two for the fifth year running, while Brennans bread takes third, also for fifth year.

Many home-grown brands make it into the top 20 of the study, which measures sales in Ireland of 6,500 products. Tayto is the king of crisps, coming in at number five, while the biscuit brand Jacobs is at number nine.

Other Irish brands near the top of the table include Irish Pride bread, which is at number 13, and Denny meats, which ranks 18th.

The study suggests Irish consumers are set in their ways when it comes to the brands they prefer to buy, with nine of the top 10 the same as last year. The only new entry was Pampers nappies, which scraped in at number 10.

Stephen Wynne-Jones, editor of Checkout, said that despite the current propensity among Irish shoppers to search out value instead of their favourite brands, Irish brands are "engaging like never before".

The biggest climber in the Top 100 list is Kinder, the children’s confectionary egg with a “surprise” inside, up 21 places top number 35.

Among the biggest fallers were the breakfast cereal Weetabix, down 14 places to 56, and Lyons tea, down eight places to 24. Heineken topped the alcohol brands list for the first time, with Silk Cut the top-selling cigarette brand.

"The Irish [consumer goods] market remains challenging for retailers and brands," said Matt Clark, the commercial director of Nielsen Ireland. "There are some positive signs that the European market is recovering, however Ireland still lags behind its counterparts."

Mr Clark said it could “be difficult to justify investment in brand building” as a result of the difficult market for grocery retailers, but insisted brand investment leads to a “competitive advantage” as the market recovers.