Cost of Christmas dinner rises by 6.5% with turkey and vegetables jumping in price - according to new data

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The price of Christmas dinner is set to increase by 6.5% this year, according to new data.

The cost of putting together to festive lunch is expected to increase to around £32.57, according to analysts Kantar. This includes Christmas lunch staples such as frozen turkey, sprouts, potatoes and Christmas pudding, with vegetable marking the most notable increase.

The cost of a frozen turkey, based on the average cost for a meal for four people, has risen by 8.5% to £14.09 from last year, while potatoes marked the highest percentage increase, rising by 16.2% to £1.65.

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Other vegetables such as Brussels sprouts, carrots, parsnips and cauliflower have also increased in price, with the latter increasing by 14.6%. The only unchanged item on the Christmas lunch table is actually the alcohol, with sparking wine remaining unchanged from 2023.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, says: “Monday 23rd December is likely to be the single busiest day for the supermarkets this year, although there are clear signs that shoppers are already stocking up their cupboards. Sales of assorted sweet biscuits and biscuits for cheese both doubled in November compared with the month before, while 8% of us bought a Christmas pudding.

“Many of us take the chance to treat ourselves at this time of year and retailers are rolling out seasonal product lines to help us celebrate in style. The proportion of spending on premium own label products reached 5% over the latest four weeks and we expect it to climb even higher in December to nearly 7%.”

The cost of Christmas dinner has increased by 6.5% for 2024.The cost of Christmas dinner has increased by 6.5% for 2024.
The cost of Christmas dinner has increased by 6.5% for 2024. | Getty Images

He added: “Sales on promotion reached 30% in November, the highest since Christmas last year. It’s retailer price cuts, often accessed through loyalty cards, that are really driving this. While multibuy promotions have stayed flat, spending on price cut offers has grown by 14%, worth £355 million more than last year. Shoppers are grabbing the chance to spend that little bit more than usual on Christmas specials, and champagne, wine and spirits saw the biggest levels of buying on deal.”

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Tesco reigns supreme as go-to supermarket

Kantar’s analysis has also shown that Tesco remains the UK’s most popular supermarket, with 28.1% of the market share in the 12 weeks to December. This is the biggest market share since December 2017 and, with a notable 5.2% growth in sales over the same period, a sign that shoppers are heading to the supermarket giant to stock up for Christmas.

Sainsbury's followed with 15.9% of the market share, increasing by 0.3 percentage points. Spending at the till was 4.7% higher than last year.

Budget supermarket Lidl was note to be the fastest growing brick-and-mortar food retailer. Sales at the German-owned supermarket rose by 6.6% to take a market share of 7.7%.

One of the biggest winners in the past year has been Marks & Spencer. KcKevitt added: “The number of different retailers we visit in the run up to Christmas is higher than at other times during the year, including wider high street brands like M&S.

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“Just under one in three households, at 32%, bought food, drink and other groceries to have at home from M&S during the 12 weeks to December 1 and looking at grocery sales alone, spending at M&S rose by 10.4%.”

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