Cost of Christmas dinner for Irish families jumps to nearly €35 this year
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The average cost of a Christmas dinner for a family of four has risen to nearly €35 this year, as Irish households, seeking better value, spend more on promotional deals, new data from market research firm Kantar shows.
Kantar estimates that on average, the cost of an average Christmas dinner for a family of four has risen 2% to €34.75.
The cost of the dinner breaks down into €9.46 for a frozen turkey, €8.42 for wine, €3.47 for potatoes, €2.76 for mince pies, €2.50 for gravy, €2.46 for stuffing, €1.72 for cranberry sauce, €1.46 for Brussel sprouts, €1.37 for parsnips, and €1.13 for carrots.
This increase was mainly driven by the price of turkey as well as Brussel sprouts and mince pies.
In the three months to December 1, wider grocery inflation increased to 3.6% compared to 3.3% last month.
The most recent data on prices from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows a number of essential food items continue to rise in price despite an overall reduction in inflation to just 1%.
The CSO said the price of a pound of butter had risen 58c in the past year, cheddar cheese went 23c per kilo, two litres of full-fat milk rising 13c while a slice white pan had fallen in price by 3c.
As grocery prices continue to increase, Irish households have been turning more towards promotions, with sales on promotion reaching 22% in November, the highest level we have seen since February this year.
Business development director at Kantar Emer Healy said shoppers were “grabbing the chance to indulge and spend that bit more than usual on festive favourites”.
“It’s perhaps no surprise that beer, cider and biscuits saw the highest levels of promotional spending,” she said.
Shoppers spent an additional €4.5m on assorted biscuits and crackers during November compared to the previous month, while 15% of all households bought mince pies and more than 36% purchased seasonal chocolates.
Households spent an additional €104m on branded products during this period, while sales of premium own-label products were up a significant 10.5% over last year.
Ms Healy added €87m was spent in supermarkets on December 23 last year, and “we’re expecting this again, with December 23 set to be the single busiest day for the supermarkets this year”.
In the four weeks up to December 1, take-home grocery sales increased in value by 5%, reaching €1.24bn. November has been the biggest sales month of the year so far, with the number of shopping trips up 1.4% compared to the same period last year.
Shoppers spent an additional €28.7m online, with value sales up 15.4% year-on-year.
As of the start of this month, Dunnes Stores holds a 24.9% share of consumer grocery spending in Ireland, with Tesco holding 23.6% of the market. SuperValu holds 19.9% while Lidl and Aldi hold 13% and 11.2% respectively.