Christmas dinner will be nearly 22% more expensive this year than in 2021, according to new research for the BBC. The price of seven key items has risen by £5.36 over a year, with chipolatas seeing the steepest jump. As households grapple with cost of living pressures, many will be looking for cheaper options for the big day.
Retail research firm Assosia analysed the average price of seven products across Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons and Lidl as well as Aldi click-and-collect. A basic Christmas dinner for five people will cost £30.03 compared to £24.67 last year. The price of every item on the list except Brussels sprouts has increased at more than the rate of inflation, which reached 11.1% in October.
The sharpest price rise is for chipolatas, up 42.7% to £2.13 for a packet of 12. Nick Allen, chief executive of the British Meat Processors Association, says the pork industry has been hit by cost increases linked to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Brexit-related labour shortages. Meanwhile, the turkey industry has been blighted by avian flu, leading to hundreds of thousands of birds being culled.
Some families are swapping turkey for chicken or cutting costs elsewhere. Lisa-Anne Campbell, a mum-of-two from Hertfordshire, says rising energy bills and food prices mean she is cutting back. 'The costs are extraordinary,' she told the BBC. 'I don't have the heating on to save as much money as I can.' A survey by Which? found that nearly half of those planned to cut costs this Christmas.
Supermarkets such as Tesco and Asda are offering all-frozen Christmas dinners for a family of five for £25 and £22 respectively. Even Poundland has its own version. The data suggests some standard products have gone up at a faster pace than their 'premium' equivalents, with premium chipolatas up 15.4% compared to 42.7% for standard ones.
