Shoppers can look forward to cheaper turkeys this Christmas, with many frozen lines having already seen deep cuts, while fresh birds are set to become a key pricing battleground over the next two weeks.
Analysis of Assosia data by The Grocer shows there were a total of 48 fresh and frozen whole or turkey crown lines available in Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose, Aldi, Lidl, Iceland and M&S, both this week and the same time last year.
Of this total, 24 were cheaper year on year [9 December 2023 vs 9 December 2024], with 15 lines also seeing deeper price cuts via promos and increasingly prevalent loyalty card deals. The average price cut across these 24 lines was 14.4%.
Seven lines were more expensive year on year, while the remaining 17 turkey products saw no change in price.
A total of 16 lines saw cuts of more than 10%, the data showed, with Tesco – which slashed the price of 11 lines over the weekend – offering the biggest price drop of 22.2% for a frozen mini turkey crown (1kg to 1.4kg). It fell from £13.50 to £10.50 with Clubcard (with no price change without).
Other notable cuts include a 17.4% discount for an Asda frozen small crown (1.7kg) to £12.80, with the retailer slashing the price of nine lines on Friday.
It comes as Morrisons cut the price of all frozen turkey crowns (in-store only) by 33%, in a special limited offer running from 6 to 8 December.
Grocer 33: Tesco provides cheapest budget Christmas basket
And with many fresh turkey lines now being advertised for sale in the mults, further price cuts would be inevitable in the run-up to Christmas, suggested Richard Harrow, partner at retail consultancy IPLC.
“Everyone is being quite cautious, but we are already seeing some competitive pricing for fresh turkey,” Harrow said.
Asda was already offering fresh at £3/kg – some 40% lower than last year, he noted, while Aldi was offering lines at £2.95/kg. Lidl’s festive leaflet, meanwhile, said “see in-store pricing – we won’t be beaten”, Harrow noted.
He added that Tesco’s fresh birds were currently priced at £5/kg, but with in-store messaging promising Clubcard prices would be available, he forecast they would soon tumble, while Aldi, Lidl and other retailers would also doubtless make further moves in response.
“There’s much more to play for. We haven’t seen the end prices yet, it will get very competitive in the coming days.”
Supply of turkeys has been stable this year, avoiding the issues caused by bird flu in 2022. Major supplier Avara Foods this week said it expected “to meet our customer commitments” in the run-up to Christmas.
No comments yet