Christmas shoppers are facing steep price rises on festive staples, with chocolate treats up to 70% more expensive and turkey prices jumping by as much as £15 compared with last year, according to consumer group Which?.
The analysis of typical Christmas dinner ingredients and festive treats found that festive chocolate had the steepest mark-up. A Lindt Lindor milk chocolate truffles treat box at Asda rose 72% to £1.98, while Lindt Milk Chocolate Teddy Christmas tree decorations at Morrisons increased 71% to £6. Across all chocolate, prices rose by an average of 14% year on year, driven by poor cocoa harvests due to extreme weather.
Higher-priced items such as turkeys saw the biggest monetary increases. A Tesco Finest free range medium bronze turkey crown rose £14.95 to £68.77, a 27.8% increase. Overall turkey inflation averaged 4.7%, with bird flu and rising farmer costs blamed. Waitrose has stopped selling whole frozen turkeys, following Marks & Spencer last year.
Among major supermarkets, Waitrose raised prices the most (6.2% year on year), while Asda kept increases lowest at 3%. Sainsbury's highlighted offers including mince pies from £1.25 and vegetable trimmings for 15p with Nectar prices from 18 December to Christmas Eve.
