Cost of Christmas dinner rises by a third reveals Quenelles

The cost of a traditional Christmas dinner has soared by a third in the past five years, according to new analysis from Quenelles, one of the UK’s leading food benchmarking service.

With the festive season fast approaching - and catering teams across the country preparing their Christmas menus - Quenelles has crunched the numbers to reveal just how much the cost of key Christmas favourites has changed since 2020.

Mince pies have seen the sharpest rise, up 94% in price over the five-year period, followed by turkey breast roll (+83%), potatoes (+72%), pigs in blankets (+61%) and cranberry sauce (+41%).

However, not all festive staples have followed the same upward trend. Brussels sprouts have increased by just 8%, while Christmas puddings are up by a modest 15%, suggesting that not every item on the festive plate has felt the full brunt of inflation.

Paul Wright, managing director at Quenelles, comments: “It’s been a turbulent five years for food pricing - from the pandemic to the cost-of-living crisis, inflation has created real challenges for caterers managing budgets. While some increases were expected, it’s eye-opening to see just how much more certain Christmas staples are now costing.

“Of course, the percentage increases vary depending what pack formats you look at – but the figures are based on the more popular pack sizes we typically see contract caterers and in-house catering teams purchasing, providing a realistic reflection of what’s happening on the ground.”

The findings come from Quenelles’ daily benchmarking of food prices, which enables catering teams to understand how competitive their purchasing prices are and identify opportunities for smarter procurement.

With over £1.5 billion worth of benchmarked data, Quenelles boasts the UK’s most comprehensive food benchmarking database - covering more than 470,000 coded product lines, 3,100 named suppliers, and 51,000+ benchmarked products.

Data is based on the below pack and product sizes:

• 1 x 36 pack of mince pies
• 1 x 1kg turkey breast roll
• 1 x 1.5kg pigs in blankets
• 4 x 2.5kg brussell sprouts
• 1kg of potatoes prepared
• 1kg of parsnips
• 6 x 1.36kg Christmas puddings
• 1 x 2.5kg cranberry sauce

For further information visit www.quenelles.co.uk

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