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One Aussie Christmas favourite every Aussie family is rushing to buy for the holiday lunch

Aussies are stocking up massively on food this festive season – with over one million portions of a clear Christmas favourite already sold.

Woolworths festive lamingtons get a decadent makeover!

Aussies are stocking up on Christmas favourites ahead of the holiday feast – with over 1m portions of ham already sold and another 890,000kg of prawns set to rush out of supermarkets.

Data collated by Woolworths exclusively for NewsWire shows ham is firmly on the dinner tables across the country, in the lead up to Christmas.

According to current sales data, ham is topping the list in every state and territory.

This comes as Woolworths chief commercial officer Paul Harker says supply shocks in the lead up to Christmas are behind the supermarket.

Aussies are spending up big on traditional Christmas favourites. Picture: NewsWire/ David Crosling
Aussies are spending up big on traditional Christmas favourites. Picture: NewsWire/ David Crosling

“We want to reassure customers, especially those in VIC and the ACT, that we have plenty of stock in store ready for Christmas as our team has been working incredibly hard to make sure our shelves are stocked with everything Aussies need for their festive celebrations,” Mr Harker said.

Stores across Victoria, the ACT and New South Wales were impacted by industrial actions, which mainly saw shortages of fruit and vegetables, breads and milk.

Christmas hams were not affected in any store during the disruption.

While ham is the overwhelming favourite Aussies are also predicted to buy 890,000kg of prawns in the lead up to Christmas – with 80 per cent of fresh prawns sales for 2024 expected to take place on the 24th and 25th of December.

The breakdown of the top five items bought by customers in each state.
The breakdown of the top five items bought by customers in each state.
While ham is predicted to be the biggest seller, Aussies are also tipped to eat an insane amount of seafood. Picture: NewsWire / Max Mason-Hubers
While ham is predicted to be the biggest seller, Aussies are also tipped to eat an insane amount of seafood. Picture: NewsWire / Max Mason-Hubers

The supermarket giant is also predicting bumper sales of oysters in the lead up to Christmas, with the supermarket saying it sells more than ten times the amount of the seafood compared with a normal week. Woolworths is also predicting to sell 100,000 cooked Rock Lobsters from Western Australia in the final week leading to Christmas.

Tim Dudding, Woolworths’ commercial director for seafood, said the business sold more than 750,000 hand-shucked oysters last year alone.

According to Woolworths, there has been a spike in the number of customers using their reward points, up 14 per cent on this time last year.

The supermarket says almost 800,000 people have banked $104 worth of credit through the reward program.

Woolworths says customers are becoming more savvy with their cost of living spendings. Picture: NewsWire / Gaye Gerard
Woolworths says customers are becoming more savvy with their cost of living spendings. Picture: NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Everyday Rewards Managing Director Hannah Ross said Bank for Christmas is a great money saving tool for members.

“We know Christmas can be an expensive time of year and Bank for Christmas is a great way for Everyday Rewards members to collect points on their everyday shops, banking the dollars for when they’re needed most,” Ms Ross said.

“This year we have also introduced more ways to help our members collect points, for example through partnerships with Accor and Westpac Altitude Rewards and added places to redeem their points through Petstock and our new Everyday Rewards Shop, helping to deliver a lot more value every day to our members.”

Originally published as One Aussie Christmas favourite every Aussie family is rushing to buy for the holiday lunch

Original URL: https://www.themercury.com.au/business/companies/retail/one-aussie-christmas-favourite-every-aussie-family-is-rushing-to-buy-for-the-holiday-lunch/news-story/74f7c6f3603c5c33429942f5ce50cff4