Households across the country could be forced to ditch some of their favourite Christmas dinner dishes after key ingredients have shot up in price.
The average cost of feeding a family of four for Christmas is now £31.71, an increase of only 1.3 per cent when compared to a year ago. However, elements of the festive meal are far pricier.
Cranberry sauce is now 26.5 per cent more expensive, costing £1.29 for four servings, according to new research from market data company Kantar.
Frozen turkey is the most expensive item on the menu, costing £14.76, up 3.1 per cent since last year. The cost of vegetables have also seen a significant hike.
Carrots are up 12.8 per cent, costing £0.44, while the price of potatoes has increased by 7.7 per cent at £1.40.
Cauliflower has risen by 3.9 per cent, to £1.07 for four servings, while parsnips are 3.3 per cent pricier, costing £0.62.
Not all Christmas essentials have seen an increase – and some have actually reduced in price.
These include Brussels sprouts down 4.3 per cent at £0.88, and Christmas puddings which are cheaper by 2.4 per cent, at £3.19.
Sparkling wine has also seen a reduction of 5.9 per cent, costing a total of £7.01 for four glasses.
Grocery inflation stands at 9.6 per cent for the 12-week period ending on 26 November, according to Kantar. This is compared to the highest rate of 17.1 per cent, recorded in the 12 weeks to 14 May this year.
However, it doesn’t mean prices are coming down – just that, overall, they are rising at a slower rate than before, meaning prices are still higher than in previous years.
To entice more customers, supermarkets are now putting the emphasis on own-label lines and promotions to attract people through their doors, Kantar said.
Its data shows that in the latest four-week period, spending on offers increased by 28.4 per cent, its highest level in more than two years.
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said: “The amount of money spent on deals usually leaps in the run-up to Christmas, but this year is already looking a bit different. We’re well above 2022 levels, with customers making an additional £180m in savings this November versus 12 months ago.
“Brands have benefited from the boost in offers and have now edged ahead of their own-label counterparts, growing sales by 6.5 per cent compared to 6.4 per cent for retailer lines.”
However, own-label products are still doing very well, Kantar said, with sales of these products up by 15.4 per cent year on year, with wine, chilled ready meals and fresh beef among the big winners last month.
McKevitt added: “We’re likely to see a seasonal jump in premium stuffing, sausage meat and Christmas puddings over the coming weeks.”
Shopping around could help customers save on key items, experts say, with separate research from Which? earlier this month showing that Aldi and Lidl are joint-cheapest for Christmas dinner essentials.
It analysed the prices of 12 popular festive foods including turkey, trimmings and a Christmas pudding at seven major supermarkets – Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose.
Which? found that the medium turkey crown was the most expensive item across all of the supermarkets, however it was cheapest at Aldi and Lidl, costing £15.49. Waitrose was the most expensive at £26 on average.
It added that the biggest percentage price difference was for cranberry sauce. At Aldi, whole cranberry sauce (200g) was 59p while at Waitrose, own-brand Waitrose Wild cranberry sauce (205g) was £2.20 – 270 per cent more expensive.