Consumers set to spend €528m on Christmas food and drink

Irish consumers will spend an estimated €528m on food and drink this Christmas, according to a new report.

The research by ecommerce partner Webloyalty reveals that more than three quarters of people (77.3%) plan spend up to €20 per person on Christmas dinner with the majority planning to do their festive food shopping in-store (70.1%).

Only 9.1% intend to do all of their food shopping online.

According to the study, despite their recent growth, when it comes to shopping for food at Christmas, discount supermarkets Aldi and Lidl are less popular than longer-established retailers.

Tesco is the number one choice for festive food shopping (25.4%), followed closely by Dunnes (23.1%), SuperValu (21.9%) and Marks and Spencer (19.2%).

Only 7.6% say they plan to shop in Lidl and 8.9% intend to food shop in Aldi.

Almost half (47.2%) say a Christmas-themed box of chocolates, such as Roses or Quality Street, is an essential purchase for the festive season, while a third (32.3%) say Christmas tins of biscuits are a must-have.

Some 27.9% say seasonal alcoholic beverages such as Baileys and eggnog are on their Christmas shopping list.

Unsurprisingly the traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings is the most commonly eaten food at Christmas, while 5% of people plan to tuck into steak on December 25.

Other popular items include Christmas pudding (44.3%), mince pies (44.3%), Christmas cake (35.9%) and smoked salmon (11.2%).

Commenting on the research, Guy Chiswick, managing director of Webloyalty Northern Europe said: "Aside from Christmas gifts, food is the item shoppers spend the most on over Christmas and we estimate that €528m will be spent on food and drink this year.

"It was interesting to see that when it comes to shopping for festive food, the discounters don’t fare as well as other well-known supermarket brands, with Tesco and Dunnes coming out top with Irish shoppers.

"This indicates that consumers are willing to spend a bit extra on food at Christmas and there is also a clear demand for seasonal items with mince pies, Christmas cake and seasonal biscuits and chocolates on shopping lists around the country."