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Overall, cows’ cheese saw an almost 4% increase in volume purchased this Christmas. In spite of this, and in line with AHDB’s pre-Christmas predictions, there was an indication that shoppers were cutting back in some areas perhaps perceived as non-essential, such as cheeseboards and convenience products. Double cream and crème fraiche also performed well, and despite it not being a product normally associated with Christmas, yoghurt saw its volumes purchased increase by almost 14% (2w/e 23 December 2023).

All major retailers saw YoY MFP volume growth in the 2 w/e 24 December 2023 but the traditional top 4 outperformed the discounters. Discounters continue to see the biggest change since before covid with volumes up 29.2% versus Christmas 2019, and it was a positive Christmas for Butchers with YoY volume growth of 3.9% (2w/e 24 December 2023, Kantar).

AHDB’s Retail & Consumer Insight Analyst, Charlotte Forkes-Rees said: “It’s great to see such great retail performances across our meat and dairy sectors over Christmas, and we hope this continues in 2024.

“AHDB continue to promote the natural health benefits of both red meat and dairy to provide accurate information and reassurance for all consumers, with our recent ‘THIS and THAT’ campaign championing the art of balanced eating.”

To read the full AHDB dairy and red meat Christmas reports visit: https://ahdb.org.uk/Query/4192?title=Latest%20consumer%20insight%20articles