Beef, wine and cheese: The surprising lunch menu that could save your wallet this Christmas

Throw some beef on the BBQ, bring out a cheese platter and pop open a chilled wine — this is the Christmas menu you should choose if you want to be kinder to your wallet this festive season.

Beef, lamb, wine and cheese will be the flavours of this Christmas as cash strapped Australians swap traditional foods like ham and turkey for cheaper options.

New analysis of grocery prices in the lead up to Christmas by KPMG shows that Australians looking to save this Christmas should opt for a barbecue style celebration instead of a traditional Christmas lunch.

Pork has gone up 3.6 per cent, lamb has gone up by a much more modest 0.7 per cent while beef has gone down by 1.7 per cent.

Another Australian Christmas favourite, seafood, has gone up by 2 per cent.

A barbecue could be a better option over a traditional Christmas lunch this year.

But it’s not all bad news with a 2.2 per cent decline in cheese prices — making cheese platters a hit this holiday season after a shock 11 per cent rise ahead of Christmas last year.

There will also be plenty of wine around the table this year with prices going up by 2.3 per cent compared to a nearly 5 per cent increase in beer prices — many a chilled wine the better option over a schooner.

KPMG urban economist Terry Rawnsley said the removal of Chinese tariffs on our exported seafood meant there was limited supply for the domestic market.

Cheese prices have also gone down.

“With the trade restrictions coming off from China some producers might be eyeing those export markets,” he said.

“When the ban came in there was a splurge of lobsters coming onto local markets and now as they gear to sell to that market overseas, it’s flowing onto domestic markets”

Mr Rawnsley said beef was comparatively cheaper because a lot of farmers had sold their stock fearing drought conditions.

“Beef is cheaper because a lot of farmers were destocking based on fears from the BOM (Bureau of Meteorology) of drought conditions. There is more product entering at the butcher this time of the year.”

It’ll be wine over beer this Christmas for those looking to save. Photo: iStock

Mr Rawnsley said high beer prices were a hang up from the Ukraine war with the nation being a major supplier of wheat.

“Farmers continue to face significant pressure from climate change, rising costs, and the unpredictability of global markets,“ he said.

Mr Rawnsley said households earning less than a $100k in household income would be most likely to switch their Christmas habits to save.

“When you look through expenditure patterns, spending on going out for meals has turned a corner and is dropping off but spending on alcohol for domestic consumption is holding up,” he said.

“It’s going to really depending on what your households income is.”