Shoppers are paying up to 70% more for Christmas chocolate treats compared with last year, while the price of a turkey has jumped by as much as £15, according to the consumer champion Which?
The group analysed a range of ingredients for a typical Christmas dinner, as well as other typical festive treats including mince pies, sparkling wine and chocolates.
Festive chocolate had the steepest mark-up this year. Among the biggest risers was a Lindt Lindor milk chocolate truffles treat box at Asda up 72% to £1.98 compared with £1.15 last year. At Morrisons, Lindt Milk Chocolate Teddy Christmas tree decorations increased from £3.50 in 2024 to £6 in 2025, up 71%
Lindt festive chocolates took the top two spots for biggest proportionate increases in price across all Christmas food staples and favourites, followed by Terry’s chocolate orange dark ball, and Galaxy’s milk chocolate sharing block and Kinder’s milk chocolate multipack.
Which? found that across the chocolate category as a whole – not only Christmas-themed offerings – prices have gone up by on average by 14% year on year.
The report showed that “blanket inflation figures do not show the full picture of what shoppers face at the supermarket when doing their Christmas food shop”, said Reena Sewraz, retail editor at Which? “Some individual items have shot up by more than 70% in price year on year.”
Poor cocoa harvests in main growing regions have contributed to the rising cost of chocolate, prompted by extreme temperatures and heavy rainfall.
While festive chocolate was found to have the biggest percentage increases in price, higher-priced products such as turkeys have had the biggest price increases in monetary terms.
One of the biggest price increases Which? found was for a Tesco Finest free range medium bronze turkey crown, which has gone up £14.95 to £68.77 this year, a 27.8% increase.
Across all types of turkey, including whole birds, crowns and smaller cuts, year on year inflation was on average 4.7%.
Which? said that individual price rises had been caused by problems including bird flu and increasing costs for farmers.
The popularity of turkey as the centrepiece of the traditional Christmas dinner has declined in recent years, as customers turn to alternatives.
This year, Waitrose announced that it would not be selling whole frozen turkeys, following Marks & Spencer last year.
Overall, Which? found that among the UK’s biggest supermarket chains Waitrose has raised prices the most, up 6.2% compared with the runup to Christmas last year. Asda was found to have kept overall annual price increases the lowest, at 3%.
Waitrose said that some of its products that were subject to price cuts last year were not discounted this Christmas.
Meanwhile, a Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “We’re continuing fantastic offers as the big day approaches with price-matched mince pies from just £1.25, and from Thursday 18 December right through to Christmas Eve Sainsbury’s is offering classic vegetable trimmings including carrots, brussels sprouts, parsnips and more for just 15p with Nectar prices.”