2022 Christmas food trends in each Australian state
What you’re eating this Christmas may well depend on where you live. Find out the 2022 Christmas food trends in your area.
Aussies are on track to buy three million kilos of hams, 720,000kg of prawns and more than 6.5 million pavlovas, puddings and mince pies from one major supermarket this Christmas.
Coles is also projecting it will sell 300,000 kilos of turkeys, about 600,000 pieces of salmon and rock lobsters, 7.5 million mangoes, three million kilos of cherries, 75,000 rolls of wrapping paper and 13,000 bonbons for use this silly season.
Christmas cherry purchases are tipped to be up 35 per cent on last year, while 10 times more fresh prawns will be sold in the week prior to December 25 than in a standard week.
New research from the supermarket also reveals state-by-state trends:
Queensland
In Queensland, Christmas is a time for hamming it up, with residents tipped to gobble more of the festive favourite than anywhere else in Australia.
Those in the Sunshine State are projected to buy 900,000kg of hams to enjoy this silly season – well ahead of the next closest states in NSW (762,000kg) and Victoria (542,000kg).
Queenslanders are also set to eat the most cherries, mangoes, prawns, salmon and oysters per capita, crack the most bonbons, and buy the most puddings.
New South Wales
There’s something fishy about Christmas in NSW this year.
The state’s residents are set to smash 219,000kg of prawns, 63,000 pieces of salmon and 24,000 oysters this silly season – more than anywhere else in Australia.
They’re also on track to buy 102,000 lobsters, second only to Victoria’s 116,000, and indulge in more than triple the volume of seafood than South Australia and Tasmania.
Coles also expects NSW residents to snap up the highest volume of cherries (473,000kg), mangoes (two million), turkeys (71,000kg) and mince pies (449,000) to enjoy on December 25.
Victoria
Victorians are set to snap up more lobsters than any other state this Christmas.
Customers in Victoria are projected to buy 116,000 lobsters to enjoy this silly season, well ahead of the next closest in NSW (102,000) and Queensland (65,000).
But they’re behind most other states when it comes to purchasing more traditional festive fare in hams and prawns.
The cold weather hasn’t turned Victorians off summer fruits, with cherries and mangoes high on their shopping lists.
And they’re also on track to eat the nation’s highest volume of pavlovas, at 115,000.
South Australia
South Australia is set to be Australia’s sweet tooth state this Christmas.
The state’s customers are projected to buy more pavlovas per capita than anywhere else in Australia to enjoy during the silly season.
Puddings and mince pies are also proving to be popular, with only WA and NSW residents purchasing more of them per capita. The same goes for lobsters, with only Victorians out-buying South Australians.
Tasmania
Gift giving is at the top of Tasmanians’ minds this Christmas, new research shows.
Data from Coles shows customers in the state are buying more wrapping paper per capita than anywhere else in Australia.
Tasmanians are also set to eat the most salmon per capita this silly season, along with Queenslanders, but they’re behind most other states when it comes to snapping up prawns, lobster and oysters.
Cost of living crunch
Price is “the most important factor when shopping for Christmas products” for seven in 10 customers this year, Coles Commercial and Express chief executive Leah Weckert says.
As a result, the supermarket has kept the prices of popular products, like half and full-leg ham and WA rock lobsters, the same as last year.
A Coles survey of more than 9700 customers also found half the respondents were hunting for festive food specials more than ever before, while four in 10 used a form of cashback vouchers or loyalty rewards to lower the cost of entertaining.
Melbourne mum Rosie Waters said she planned in advance, bought food that was in season and on special, and reduced purchase portions to keep her Christmas catering bill manageable.
“I bought the ham a few weeks ago, that’s already in the fridge, so I don’t have to buy everything at the last minute and get a huge shopping bill,” she said.
“And if food is a bit pricey, like cherries can be, I won’t go without but I might not buy as much.”
Ms Waters said mince pies, mangoes, cherries and berries were at the top of her “sweet tooth” family’s festive treats preferences.
Making shortbread and Christmas pudding – complete with “a coin in there” – had also become traditions for her, husband Clint and sons Harvey, 11, and Hugo, 6.
While they reside in leading lobster-buying state Victoria, Ms Waters said prawns were more commonly found at her family Christmas.
“We love seafood,” she said. “My kids have learned from a very young age how to peel a prawn.”
Originally published as 2022 Christmas food trends in each Australian state
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