Christmas Dinners Getting Expensive

28/11/2007

Retailers say the bill at the supermarket is pricey for Christmas party dinners this year. In fact, the cost of the average Christmas dinner at home will go up £2 per person from last year. Retailers estimate each person will eat about £16 worth of food.

Christmas party menus will be a bit more expensive this year because of the avian bird flu scare. Stores have had to deal with a shortage of turkeys and organic farmers are selling for a profit.

Organic turkey sales are expected to rise by 46 per cent while the overall Christmas party and holiday season turkey market is tipped to increase by seven per cent to £42.

The British Retail Consortium reports households will spend around £170 on food and drinks for the Christmas party and holiday season. The estimate is up four per cent from last year.

Christmas shoppers can save money on food by carefully planning their menus and purchasing vegetables that are not pre-washed and prepared. Those tend to be cheaper. Gammon is also a popular item this year as it is less expensive than turkeys.

Food sales for the holiday season are predicted to reach nearly £12 billion this year. The estimate is up 5% from last year’s food sales around the festive season.