Your Christmas dinner may be missing an iconic staple this year

Turkey might not be on the menu this Christmas (Photo: LumiNola via Getty Images)

Halloween and Bonfire Night are behind us and the next big event we look forward to is Christmas.

However, Christmas dinner this year is likely to be more expensive than ever before, new data from The Grocer shows.

For anyone planning on having a turkey on the dinner table this holiday season, it might be worth purchasing a frozen turkey sooner rather than later.

As The Grocer, along with research from Assosia, found, poultry prices have risen sharply in even the cheapest supermarkets in recent weeks – and there are no signs of slowing down.

Of the 66 frozen whole turkey and turkey cuts available at Aldi, Lidl, Waitrose and Iceland, 50 varieties are at least 10 percent more expensive than in the same period last year, the study shows.

20 items were a whopping 20% ​​more expensive, with the biggest price increase at Waitrose being for the Essential frozen buttered medium turkey crown – a full 31.6% more expensive than in 2021.

However, the price of turkeys is not the only problem shoppers are facing this Christmas; their availability is also a growing concern due to bird flu.

Up to 35% of this year's holiday free-range flocks have already been lost due to the virus outbreak, the British Poultry Council said this week.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost UK and has been updated.

Related…