Take-home grocery sales hit a new record £12.8bn in December 2022, up 9.4% year on year, fueled by grocery price inflation.
Monthly grocery sales were £1.1 bn higher in December versus last year and breached the £12bn mark for the first time, Kantar said.
While volume sales were actually down 1% year-on-year, grocery price inflation led to a “significant” rise in value sales.
Value sales of mince pies soared by 19%, but volume purchases barely increased at all.
Meanwhile, Value sales of Christmas puddings grew by 16% in value and 6% in volume terms, while volumes of Brussels sprouts fell from 48% to 45% year-on-year.
Shoppers continued to trade down to supermarkets’ own label products over the period, with sales rising by 13.3%, well ahead of a 4.7% increase in branded lines.
The research shows Friday 23 December was the most popular shopping day of the year, with more than half of the nation’s households going to stores or receiving a delivery.
Shoppers also visited physical grocery stores 5% more often in December 2022 than they did the previous year.
The latest period also saw a marked increase in the purchasing of cold and flu related items versus a year ago, with sales of cough lozenges up by 54% and decongestants up 36%.
