The cost of what looks like a fairly modest Christmas dinner for a family of four has climbed by 2 per cent when compared with last year, according to data published by retail analysts Kantar Worldpanel.
More broadly, the analysts put grocery inflation at 3.6 per cent compared with 3.3 per cent last month.
Kantar said the cost of an average Christmas dinner in 2024 would come in at €34.74 with almost every element on the plate including the frozen turkey, Brussels sprouts, potatoes, parsnips and carrots, all climbing in price.
The cost of the turkey is up just over 5 per cent while potatoes are up 4.3 per cent. Sprouts and parsnips are up by around 12 per cent while carrots have climbed by 6.6 per cent. The cost of mince pies is put at 10.6 per cent higher than last year.
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By contrast, the price of ancillary elements such as gravy, cranberry sauce and stuffing have all fallen.
The Kantar data suggests that last month was a bumper one for Irish supermarkets with take-home grocery sales in Ireland increasing in value by 5 per cent over the four weeks leading up to the start of December reaching €1.24 billion.
With Irish households stocking up for Christmas, November became the biggest sales month of the year so far, with the number of shopping trips up 1.4 per cent compared to the same period last year.
And that shopping frenzy has yet to start in earnest.
“Last year, we saw a whopping €87 million go through the tills on December 23rd, and we’re expecting this again with Monday December 23rd set to be the single busiest day for the supermarkets this year,” said Emer Healy of Kantar.
“But there are clear signs that Irish shoppers are stocking up early especially when it comes to festive favourites. Shoppers spent an additional €4.5 million on assorted biscuits and crackers compared to the previous month, while 15 per cent of all households bought mince pies and more than 36 per cent purchased seasonal chocolates in November. ”
The data shows how shoppers spent an additional €104 million on branded products over the latest 12 weeks, while sales of premium own label products up 10.5 per cent over last year.
In terms of market share, Dunnes Stores holds 24.9 per cent market share, with sales growth of 7.8 per cent year-on-year. Tesco holds 23.6 per cent with value growth of 7.6 per cent year-on-year.
SuperValu holds 19.9 per cent of the market with growth of 3.5 per cent.. Lidl holds a 13 per cent share of total spending with sales up 5.9 per cent, while Aldi has an 11.2 per cent market share, up 2.5 per cent.
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