Cost of Christmas hampers pushes festive food beyond reach for some

There’s no festive cheer for our wallets this year, with the cost of the average Christmas food hamper soaring 11 per cent— leaving some holiday staples beyond the reach of many Aussie families. See our investigation here.

The cost of a festive food hamper has leapt by as much as 11 per cent since last year, threatening to push the collection of Christmas staples beyond the reach of many Australian families as the overall cost of the holiday season soars.

Fruit mince pies, soft drinks, cream and turkey have recorded the biggest increases, according to the analysis by comparison service Frugl.

“This will be a comparatively expensive Christmas,” said Frugl CEO Sean Smith.

Frugl found the heftiest hike had occurred at Coles, where the cost of a hamper rose by 11 per cent. While Woolworths only recorded a six per cent increase, its basket of Yuletide yummies was more expensive than Coles’s.

Mr Smith said hamper costs represented broader trends in categories such as dairy and beverages.

The combined cost of these items is up 11 per cent on last Christmas. Picture: Christian Anstey

Business NSW CEO Daniel Hunter told The Daily Telegraph “the rising cost of food is threatening to make the Christmas hamper unaffordable for many families this year.”

Frugl’s Mr Smith offered a different but arguably equally concerning opinion: “I think the majority of people won’t cut corners at Christmas and they will wear any additional cost.

“But there will be a substantial shock heading into January and February.”

A broader Christmas cost check by Business NSW also shows there has been a big jump compared to 2021.

The group examined Australian Bureau of Statistics consumer price inflation data for Sydney, finding fruit and vegetables were up 18 per cent and that milk was 16 per cent more expensive.

A big chunk of these increases came in the first half of the year, amid widespread flooding and the early effects of Russia‘s war on Ukraine.

However, an investigation by The Telegraph reveals the bill to fill the trolley has shot up by as much as $20 a week since June.

The biggest increase has been at Woolworths, the comparison shop shows – a finding supported by work done from share market analysts at investment bank UBS.

Woolworths said its overall shelf prices had risen by 7.3 per cent in the year to the end of September and that it had 5000 items of special each week.

Still, a selection of Woolies’ own range of products from all aisles is nine per cent more expensive than it was in June, The Telegraph found, as is a basket of the well-known branded goods it sells.

Coles recorded smaller rises, albeit off higher starting prices. The percentage increases at Aldi have been similar to those at Coles. IGA was up by less, but was still the most expensive chain.

Mince pies alone have risen 45 per cent since last year Picture: Christian Anstey

In June, The Telegraph revealed there had been a double-digit percentage increase in the cost of the regular grocery shop in all chains, regardless of whether a customer went for budget lines or household names.

Since then, massive new financial pressures have emerged, such as a return to steep energy price increases and an unprecedented run of interest rate rises.

The combined effect has been “huge,” Frugl’s Mr Smith said.

The $20 increase in the cost of the weekly trip to the supermarket is on top of last year‘s typical trolley bill, which Canstar has previously put at $226.

Business NSW’s Mr Hunter said many businesses weren’t passing on all of their cost increases.

“They are absorbing them and they are making much less money and in some cases no money at all,” he said.

Business NSW chief executive officer Daniel Hunter.

Further energy cost increases in the new year would exacerbate the situation, Mr Hunter said.

He called for the reinstatement of the Business Energy Advice Program (BEAP) to help owners save money.

“This is where government needs to step in and help out,” he said.

The program was launched in 2019 and funding ended in August. The Department of Climate Change and Energy is doing an evaluation.

The Albanese government recently announced $63 million of energy efficiency grants for small- and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy Jenny McAllister also said Federal Labor was developing the first “national energy performance strategy” and called on SMEs to get involved in the current consultation process.

While many hamper staples are much more expensive, the major supermarket chains are matching each other in keeping a lid on some items.

A Coles spokeswoman said that “with cost-of-living top of mind for customers this Christmas, we’ve worked hard to ensure we have great value on Aussie … favourites like Coles Beechwood half and full leg ham, and WA rock lobsters, which we’ve worked hard to keep the same price as last year.”

A Woolworths spokesman said “a range of seasonal favourites will cost the same price or less than last Christmas, including Woolworths half leg ham, WA rock lobster, cooked Australian tiger prawns, pavlova bases, our Woolworths brie cheese and mixed nuts.”

Frugl’s Mr Smith said it was “great” that major chains had created options where the price was locked in.

A Coles spokesman said it had locked more than 1100 prices and dropped the cost of 100 others.

But that is where the good news ends.

For most products, Frugl’s Mr Smith said, “we literally don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel.”

Vladimir Putin’s invasion had pushed up the global price of fertiliser, grains and vegetable oils, as well as fuel.

“If the war ended tomorrow, the ability to return to pre-war production levels just doesn’t exist” due to all the damage to infrastructure,” Mr Smith said. “There will need to be a recovery” over years.

“It could well be that higher prices just become normalised.”

Darina Wallace with her son in Leichhardt. Picture: Tim Hunter

Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci has warned in private meetings with suppliers that a cost-of-living reckoning is coming early in the New Year.

Leichhardt’s Darina Wallace said that while “everything” was going up in price, and not just at the supermarket, it was possible to offset some of the rises by shopping around for a better deal.

Making different choices about consumption was another way to lower costs, she suggested.

“We minimise the amount of meat we eat,” she said. “That’s something that is very much attainable by all people.

“Plus we try to eat as seasonably as possible,” she said.

Ms Wallace said it was understandable that prices had to rise due to repeated flooding.