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Cost of a Christmas Meal in UK Rises on High Turkey, Potato Prices - BLOOMBERG
(Bloomberg) -- The cost of a Christmas meal in the UK has risen the most in two years on higher prices for staples like turkey and potatoes.
An average meal for four, including sparkling wine and frozen turkey, is up 6.5% at £32.57 ($41.50) in 2024, compared with the previous year, according to research firm Kantar.
Potato prices increased the most out of all ingredients on the plate, jumping 16.2% to £1.65, followed by cauliflower, up 14.6% to £1.18, the group said Tuesday. Frozen turkey prices have also risen an average of 8.5% compared with last year, Kantar said.
Costs related to growing vegetables have soared in recent years as high employment bills and unseasonable weather hit farmers already facing pressure from supermarkets to deliver affordable produce.
The findings come as an uptick in consumer price inflation dims the prospect of further interest-rate cuts by the Bank of England, reversing back-to-back rate hikes over the pandemic.
Food price inflation hit 2.6% in the four weeks to Dec. 1, Kantar said, which is up slightly on the 2.3% level the previous month.
Kantar data show that Tesco, Britain’s largest grocer, pushed its market share to just over 28% — its highest level since 2017 and well ahead of Sainsbury’s, which holds a 16% share.
Both grocers have been hard hit by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves’ tax-raising budget. Sainsbury’s has warned changes to employers’ national insurance contributions — a payroll tax — will add £140 million to its bill, which risks being passed onto the consumer and stoking inflation.
Discounter Lidl was the fastest growing discount grocer, with sales rising 6.6% in the 12 weeks to Dec. 1, alongside a rise in its footfall of 10% versus a year ago.
