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Your support makes all the difference.The cost of Christmas dinner has fallen this year. So, when you’re greeting the son of God on happy Christmas morning, you can do so in the joyous knowledge that you’ve spent 15 pence less on sprouts than you did in 2023.
Turkey prices are down too. According to the retail tracking platform, Assosia, a 10lb bird costs £1.21 less than it did last Christmas – a 6 per cent fall. Sadly, it’s been a difficult year for root vegetable growers, so some of the savings are offset by more expensive spuds and parsnips. All in all, Assosia reckons your supermarket family lunch could come in at £31.66, down from £32.18 compared to 12 months ago.
Needless to say, some supermarkets offer better deals than others, with seasonal price wars having turned cutthroat. Apparently, Lidl can do you a complete Christmas dinner for about £11 (yes, 11, and that’s for a family of six!), including bags of vegetables at 9p each. And if you leave it till Christmas Eve, who knows what bargains are to be had.
A friend who used to work at Waitrose told me recently that on one memorable occasion during her supermarket days, two last-minute shoppers both grabbed the only remaining turkey at the same time and refused to release their grips. The situation was only resolved when both customers agreed to the store manager’s suggestion that the bird be cut in half. The spirit of Christmas must never have felt more tangible.
For some, even the yellow-sticker deals will be out of reach. There will be plenty of people going without this Christmas, or reliant on the help of food banks, in an ongoing sign of the challenging times. Last winter, the Trussell Trust distributed 600,000 food parcels to people facing hunger and poverty. This year the picture will be similar. It’s certainly a time of year to feel thankful if you are lucky enough to be able to push the boat out.
I know I am fortunate. Food has always been my favourite element of Christmas. As a child, I loved the boxes of chocolates my mother hung from the tree, and would stuff myself with too many sausages at lunchtime. And just as good as the big day itself were all the leftovers. A Boxing Day of cold meat, my dad’s homemade pork pie and salads is still one of the things I look forward to most.
Like every family, we’ve had one or two disasters over the years. There was the time my dad convinced my mum to cook a goose at Christmas, only for it to be such a tough old bird (the goose, not my mother) that it beat the carving knife in a lengthy duel. Dad blamed Mum’s cooking; she blamed him for ordering the bloody thing. My brother and I watched on with glee.
Another time, we spent Christmas at my grandparents’ house and had turkey for seven days straight. Neither I nor my parents have cooked a turkey since, so scarred were we by the Bernard Matthews excess. There was also an incident involving a kitchen fire and a pork pie, but thankfully that hasn’t stopped my dad from making them again.
For this Christmas, we’ll be hosting. I’ve ordered a large chicken and some pigs in blankets from a nearby butcher, which pushes the cost up but which I know will be good quality and supports an independent trader. Vegetables have come from the greengrocer at our local market, who at least gives fair warning with his motto: “We don’t aim to be the cheapest – we aim to be the best.” My mother-in-law is bringing a pavlova for dessert as no one in our house is particularly fussed about Christmas pudding. And I bought a family-sized box of Roses to keep everyone going – and/or make them sick – for the rest of the day.
The truth of the price of my Christmas dinner, if you include soft drinks and wine too, is probably getting on for £130. Quite a price to pay, even for eight of us, and even if you factor in the leftover meals. I know it’s more than I need to pay, and more than some could afford (though perhaps less than others). But I’d much rather blow the Christmas budget on the grub than on a tonne of presents which people don’t really want. And at least I might have saved a couple of quid on last year.
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