December is a record breaker for grocers as shoppers splashed £12bn

December is a record breaker for grocers as shoppers splashed nearly £12bn on festive treats

British supermarkets enjoyed their busiest month on record in December as shoppers splashed out nearly £12billion on champagne, salmon and other festive treats.

The closure of many pubs and restaurants helped to smash the previous record for monthly spending – of £11billion in November – said retail researcher Kantar.

Yesterday, Morrisons, the first Big Four grocer to provide an update, said there was a 9.3 per cent rise in sales over the three weeks to January 3.

Christmas blowout: The closure of many pubs and restaurants prompted shoppers to hunker down at home with extra food and drink this Christmas

Best-sellers included Christmas pudding and mince pies. Champagne sales popped 64 per cent higher, while salmon sales leapt 40 per cent.

Chief executive David Potts said: ‘I’m very pleased with the way the Morrisons team has helped our customers enjoy their Christmas in the best way they could.’

Kantar said overall spending on whole turkeys was 5 per cent lower and sales of pork joints up 19 per cent instead. Sales of sprouts rose 11 per cent.

Fraser McKevitt, Kantar head of retail research, said: ‘It seems many families decided to pare things back slightly.’

Morrisons expects a full-year profit of £420million to £440million, before it returns £230million of pandemic business rates relief. 

It expects its pandemic costs to be £280million for the year and will press ahead with a £96.4million dividend, worth 4p per share, on January 25.

Kantar said Morrisons was the fastest-growing Big Four supermarket in the run-up to December, with spending up an estimated 13.7 per cent to about £3.2billion in the 12 weeks to November 29.

Its market share rose from 10.1 per cent in 2019 to 10.3 per cent in 2020.

Tesco’s share shrank from 27.3 per cent to 27 per cent, Asda fell from 14.6 per cent to 14.1 per cent while Sainsbury’s held firm at 15.7 per cent.