Christmas dinner will be an expensive affair this year with the price of turkey and ham soaring by up to 40% in the past 12 months.
As rising energy bills continue to hit businesses and the cost of animal feed forces farmers to raise their prices, butchers across the country have said they will have "no choice" but to charge more for their meat this festive season.
The cost-of-living crisis has left many businesses concerned that customers will cut down on their spending this Christmas.
While some butchers have warned the cost of traditional Christmas meats will rise by 10%, others said the increase will be much higher.
John McGrath, owner of McGraths Butchers in Galway, said customers could be facing a 40% price hike in his shop compared to last year.
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He gave the price of half a ham as an example, explaining that it will increase from €20-€22 to at least €30 this year.
Mr. McGrath said: "Anyone who says to you that it's only going to be a 10% rise has not taken into consideration the last three increases in energy.
"My energy has gone from €1,000 to €2,300. The fool will just take a 10% increase and that will be it and he hasn't allowed for energy in his pricing. It's a 30% increase on my costs, so you're looking at about 40% for customers."
Mr McGrath added: "They're even saying the growers [of animals] are declining to grow them because they're saying they're not going to get paid for their product, because of the cost of feed and the cost of energy, heating lamps and everything else.
"I was speaking to a man yesterday and he said he has a load of chicks and he doesn't know whether to just sell them the way they are or to raise them. He's wary of costs."
Meanwhile, "worried" Michael O'Loughlin, owner of Michael O'Loughlin Butchers in Limerick, said he is expecting to raise the price of ham and turkey by 15% to 20% this Christmas.
"A standard whole turkey was around €50 [last year]," he said, "so let's say it will be around €65 this year. Half a ham was about €30 last year, so I reckon it will be roughly €37 or €38 this year.
"I'm worried about everything but electricity is the biggest worry. Everything is forcing us to [raise our prices].
"Our electricity bill has gone up about 60% - that's an awful lot of money."
Mr O'Loughlin said he is worried that customers will be less willing to fork out on meat for their Christmas dinner this year once they see the prices.
"I'm worried about customers and I'm worried about my bills," he said. "It's a very stressful time at the moment. It's serious. It's a headache now and it's putting a lot of people out of business."
But one less concerned butcher at FX Buckley Butchers in Dublin 14, manager Harry O'Connor, said that while customers should expect a 9% increase on the price of his ham and turkey since last Christmas, he is positive it will not stop them buying the meat.
"It's not a huge increase," he said. "Half a ham will be €25 this year. That's a 9% increase since last year. The cost of feed is the main reason. The feed cost is up 20%-30%."
Burkes Butchers in Kerry said that they're expecting to raise their prices by 10% this Christmas, saying that both their turkey and half a ham will cost around €35 this year.
Figures show that the average price of everyday staples has gone up drastically in recent months. Between September 2021 and September this year, the price of broccoli increased from €2.70 to €2.97, while the cost of lamb loin chops rose from €18.56 to €21.40.
Financial expert John Lowe, of Money Doctors, said that ideally people should have been saving for Christmas since January, depending on how much they are expecting to spend.
On Christmas costs, he said: "The first thing you want to do is find out how much you are going to spend. That is not just your Christmas presents for the family and your friends but also the tree, food and drink. People buy food like there is no tomorrow for Christmas."
