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Santa’s
Snackflation
Nation

We’ve combined the latest census data along with the cost of the most popular snacks and drinks left out for Santa across the UK for 2023 compared to what it cost in 2022.

To see how many treats are left out in your local area, how much it all costs, and how much it’s gone up since last year, enter your postcode below.

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About this research

Over eighteen million (18,620,275) snacks and tipples are expected to be left out for Santa on Christmas Eve, at a cost of more than £5.2m (£5,242,438). We analysed how inflation is impacting the cost of Santa’s snacks and drinks this festive season, focusing on 9 popular treats families leave out for Father Christmas, and how their costs have changed between 2022 and 2023 – including carrots, mince pies, milk, biscuits, beer, sherry, whisky, wine, and other drinks.

Based on the number of households with dependent children from the latest census data, the research also revealed how many treats of each type are predicted left out in each local area, how much it is likely to cost, and how much it’s gone up since last year. Inflation means that the treats left out for Santa this year are expected to cost more than £450k extra (£466,791) this year than in 2022.

It is a tradition to leave out treats for Santa on Christmas Eve, as a way of expressing gratitude and appreciation for the gifts he would bring. Whilst many families love to uphold this tradition, there’s no doubt that the cost of living is impacting people across the country, making it increasingly difficult to do so. We developed this tool to take a light-hearted look at this serious issue.

Many businesses are feeling the pinch too, but there are flexible benefits which employers can provide to their workforce that can ease the cost of living, such as discounts at leading retailers, or other benefits that can reduce the combined tax and national insurance costs for both the employee and employer. The festive period is a great time to show your appreciation to your employees – with Zest you can personalise your employee benefits platform for every employee, and help drive benefits uptake with targeted communications.

Where did we get the data?

  • The most popular treats left out for Santa by UK children:
    • https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2017/12/21/what-food-and-drink-do-children-leave-out-santa
  • Number of households with dependent children in England and Wales
    • https://www.ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS003/editions/2021/versions/3#get-data
  • Number of households with dependent children in Scotland
    • https://www.parentingacrossscotland.org/info-for-practitioners/facts-about-families/households/
  • Number of households with dependent children in Northern Ireland
    • https://www.nisra.gov.uk/publications/census-2021-main-statistics-demography-tables-household-relationships
  • Cost of carrots
    • The cost per KG of carrots has been taken from https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/timeseries/czne/mm23 and compares the cost of a kilo of carrots in December 2022 with the most recent data published as at 8th November 2023 which is data for September 2023. It is assumed that a large carrot is left out at an average weight of 124g based on https://www.yourindoorherbs.com/carrots-weight-size/
  • Cost of mince pies
    • For consistency, we have compared the cost of a six pack of Sainsbury’s own brand mince pie (320g) shttps://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/SearchResults/mince%20pie – pricing correct as at 8th November 2023 and compared it to the per mince pie cost quoted for the same product in this article in 2022 https://www.money.co.uk/credit-cards/best-value-mince-pies
  • Cost of milk
    • The cost per pint of milk has been taken from https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/timeseries/cznt/mm23 and compares the cost of a pint of milk in December 2022 with the most recent data published as at 8th November 2023 which is data for September 2023. It is assumed that the average glass of milk left out is half a pint.
  • Cost of biscuits
    • The cost of biscuits has been calculated using the cost for a packet of McVitie’s Original Digestives (360g) pack, and assumes that each pack contains 24 biscuits and that on average, 2 biscuits are left out as a treat. Pricing for this treat has been taken from https://www.trolley.co.uk/grocery-price-index/brand_category/?brand=McVitie%27s&category=Biscuits and compares the cost of a pack of biscuits in December 2022 with the cost of the same product in October 2023.
  • Cost of beer
    • The cost of beer assumes that the typical beer left out for Santa consists of one can of Kronenbourg 1664 (440ml) – with the price taken from is taken from the average cost of a ten-pack of beer from Morrisons, Iceland, Asda, Coop, Waitrose in October 2022 and October 2023 – https://www.trolley.co.uk/grocery-price-index/brand_category/?brand=Kronenbourg&category=Lagers and average price across Morrisons, Iceland, Asda, Coop, Waitrose
  • Cost of sherry
    • The cost of sherry assumes that the typical sherry left out for Santa is a 50ml glass of Harveys Bristol Cream Sherry with the cost of a 1 litre bottle taken as the average cost from across Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Asda, Waitrose, Tesco Iceland and Ocado in October 2022 and October 2023 from https://www.trolley.co.uk/grocery-price-index/category/?id=103622
  • Cost of whisky
    • The cost of whisky assumes that the typical whisky left out for Santa is a 25ml glass of Johnnie Walker Red Label Blended Scotch Whisky with the cost of a 1 litre bottle taken as the average cost from across Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Ocado in October 2022 and October 2023 from https://www.trolley.co.uk/grocery-price-index/brand_category/?category=Whisky&brand=Johnnie+Walker
  • Cost of wine
    • The cost of wine assumes that the typical glass left out for Santa is a 150ml glass of Campo Viejo Rioja Garnacha Red Wine with the cost of a 75cl bottle taken as the average cost from Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Asda, Ocado and Tesco in October 2022 and October 2023 from https://www.trolley.co.uk/grocery-price-index/category/?id=103514 
  • Cost of other drinks
    • For the category of “other drinks” we have assumed that every drink is a 250ml pre-mixed can of Gordon’s Gin and Tonic purchased from Sainsbury’s as a single can. The cost compares October 2023 with October 2022 https://www.trolley.co.uk/grocery-price-index/category/?id=103514