Take-home grocery sales are up by 5.9% year on year, marking the fastest level of growth since March 2021.

Data from Kantar, for the 12 weeks to 27 November 2022, revealed that although grocery inflation has dipped by 0.1% this month, shoppers will need to spend an extra £60 in December to buy the same items as last year.

As a result, customers are leaving seasonal purchases later to manage budgets ahead of Christmas Day.

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Head of retail and consumer insight Fraser McKevitt said: “Sales of mince pies, Christmas puddings and Christmas confectionery are worth 2% more than last year, but this can largely be put down to higher prices.”

Coping strategies to mitigate rising costs have yet again resulted in own-label sales growing by 1.7% year on year, with the cheapest lines up by 46.3%.

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