Study shows supermarkets battle to offer budget Christmas dinner

November 2012

Study shows supermarkets battle to offer budget Christmas dinner: A study of statistics compiled by The Sunday Express has shown that Asda will be offering the cheapest Christmas dinner this year, with families on the lookout for a budget option in these tough economic times.

The Wal-Mart subsidiary chain will be offering Christmas dinner for as little as £2.47 per person. This narrowly beat out fierce competition from Morrison’s (£2.49), Aldi (£3.04) and Sainsbury’s (£4.32).

These costs were worked out on the basis of a traditional Christmas dinner to serve six. The study calculated the cost of three 550g turkey breast joints, carrots, potatoes, parsnips, stuffing and Brussels sprouts, topped off by Christmas pudding and mince pies, totalling £14.84.

However, despite these budget options on offer, the projected cost of a family meal for up to six people is set to be around £93.

This can partially be explained by a staggering 42% rise in the price of Brussels sprouts from last year. Mince pie prices also soared, with a pack of six from Sainsbury’s now costing £1.65 as opposed to last year’s price of £1.

These rising costs have prompted consumers to begin their Christmas shopping early, enabling them to spread the cost over a period of weeks. Highlighting this, the sale of Christmas puddings has risen a massive 62% from the same time last year. The same applies to the sale of chocolate selection boxes (42%) and mince pies (32%).

Sales increases can also be explained by retailers rolling out their Christmas lines earlier. Tesco offered Christmas-themed confectionary on August 29^th when many Brits were still enjoying their summer holidays. Waitrose also offered Christmas lines as of September 24^th, which sparked consumers to complain to advertising watchdogs who were unhappy that their advertisements had caused their children to become excited and start pestering them for gifts.

Richard Dodd, from the British Retail Consortium, told the Sunday Express: 'A third of all groceries in supermarkets are on offer, competition for Christmas customers is intense and Christmas shopping is starting now.'