There was little festive cheer beyond the alcohol aisles for supermarket bargain hunters in the run-up to Christmas.

Although prices across the big four were, on average, 0.2% lower in December than in November, this was largely down to a 5% cut in alcohol prices. In fact, of the 15 categories surveyed for the Grocer Price Index by BrandView.co.uk, only alcohol and household goods showed average price falls in December.

Prices in staple grocery categories such as fruit and veg, chilled and biscuits, confectionery and snacks, all rose by more than 2% month-on-month as retailers continued to pass on commodity price increases from earlier in 2011.

Across the big four, prices in December were, on average, 4% higher than in 2010 - in line with the year-on-year price inflation in November, and a percentage point behind the inflation figure for October, which came after a round of late summer price-cutting.

In the battle for pricing supremacy, Tesco managed to move a little closer to its arch rival Asda in December - on average, its products were 15p more expensive than Asda’s compared with a price difference of 18p the previous month.

Tesco’s average prices dropped 1% month-on-month from £2.42 to £2.40 thanks mainly to a deal-led 9.8% cut in booze prices.

It was a different story over at Asda. In contrast with its aggressive price cutting in December 2010, the retailer increased prices by an average of 0.3% in December.

The increase had an adverse impact on its annual price inflation performance. By letting average prices edge up by 1p to £2.25, Asda’s year-on-year prices were 5% higher in December than a year earlier - whereas in November they were only 2% higher.

Meanwhile, at Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, there was little movement in overall price positions. Both increased prices by 0.1% month-on-month despite making the traditional price cuts on booze.

Away from the top four, Waitrose took a leaf out of Tesco’s book and cut its prices 1% month-on-month in December.

As at Tesco, most savings at Waitrose came in the alcohol category as it sought to give consumers an added reason to restock drinks cabinets. However, it also slashed deli product prices to entice people to splash out on treats during the crucial Christmas period.

That approach appears to have paid dividends for the retailer - last week Waitrose reported a 3.8% increase in like-for-like sales in December, citing some big increases in sales of its more luxury items from dressed crab to Heston Blumenthal’s mince pies and Christmas puddings. T

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