Food stores group Albert Heijn increased its share of the Dutch market in 2016, easing up to 35.4% from 35.1% in the previous year, according to the annual survey by market researcher IRI Nederland.

SuperUnie, which includes the Plus, Deen and Spar labels, lost a fraction of its market share, falling 0.1 percentage point to 29.6%. Jumbo was ranked third, with market share up at 18.5% from 17.4% after it acquired the C1000 stores.

However, budget stores Aldi and Lidl lost market share for the first time in years. IRI said improved promotion by up-market supermarkets was partly to blame.

Total sales of Dutch supermarkets increased by 0.5% to €36.1bn.The 2016 fiscal year covered 53 weeks and discounting this, total sales increased by 2.6%, slightly higher than the 2.4% increase registered in 2015.

ITI said the number of discount campaigns was the highest in 10 years. This was necessitated by the strong growth of alternative food suppliers such as budget stores and online retailers.