Shoppers are paying significantly more for Christmas food this year, with festive chocolate treats costing up to 70 per cent more than last Christmas and the price of a turkey rising by up to £15, according to new research from consumer advocate Which?.
The organization analyzed the cost of the key ingredients of a traditional Christmas meal, as well as popular seasonal treats such as mince pies, sparkling wine and chocolate. It found that while food inflation appears to have eased overall, sharp price increases for individual festive items are hitting shoppers hard.
Chocolate products recorded the strongest growth. A box of Lindt Lindor milk chocolate truffles has risen 72 per cent at Asda, from £1.15 last year to £1.98, while Morrisons’ Lindt milk chocolate teddy tree ornaments have risen 71 per cent, from £3.50 in 2024 to £6 this year. Lindt products dominated the list of largest proportional increases, followed by items such as Terry’s Dark Chocolate Orange, Galaxy Sharing Blocks and Kinder Multipacks.
Which category of chocolate overall? found that prices increased by an average of 14 percent year-on-year. Reena Sewraz, retail editor at Which?, said inflation headlines obscured the reality faced by shoppers. “Some individual items are up more than 70 percent compared to last year, which will come as a shock to many households planning their Christmas shopping,” she said.
Rising cocoa prices have been a key reason for higher chocolate costs, with poor harvests in key growing regions attributed to extreme weather conditions such as high temperatures and heavy rainfall.
While chocolate saw the largest percentage increases, turkeys made the biggest impact on revenue. The price of a Tesco Finest free-range medium bronze turkey head rose by £14.95 to £68.77, an increase of almost 28 per cent. Prices for all turkey products – including whole birds, crowns and smaller cuts – increased an average of 4.7 percent year-over-year.
Which? said turkey prices have been driven up by a combination of bird flu outbreaks and rising costs for farmers. The traditional centerpiece of Christmas dinner is also losing popularity, and more and more shoppers are opting for alternatives. This year Waitrose confirmed it would no longer sell whole frozen turkeys after Marks & Spencer made a similar move last Christmas.
Look at the major supermarket chains: which ones? found that Waitrose saw the highest price increases overall in the run-up to Christmas, with prices rising 6.2 per cent compared to last year. It was found that Asda kept the increases lowest at around 3 per cent.
Waitrose said some products that were reduced last Christmas had not been reduced this year, while Sainsbury’s said it was continuing to run festive promotions, including price-matched mince pies from £1.25 and discounted vegetable side dishes available through Nectar Prices in the final days before Christmas.
Which? warned that while shoppers may be reassured by easing inflation headlines, many families will still feel the pinch at checkout as they prepare for the holidays.
