Why the Christmas feast will look different this year

Shropshire’s Christmas dinner table is going to look very different this year, judging by the festive sales patterns revealed by a county butcher.

G.N. Badley & Sons, based in Trench, Telford, says it has seen a big shift away from traditional whole turkeys this year in favour of much smaller cuts of meat.

“Sales of rolled turkey crown are up by more than 30% this year, and there is a general trend towards buying much smaller joints,” said managing director Simon Badley.

“Clearly this is a reflection of the fact that families are going to be meeting up in much smaller groups this year, in line with the Covid-19 guidelines – but also a sign of generally changing trends.”

However, he said it was clear that Shropshire families were still determined to have a feast this Christmas, with sales across the board keeping pace with the past couple of years.

“Gammon is proving to be another popular choice, with sales up nearly 10%, and our sales of sausages and home-made pork pies are way ahead of last year,” he said.

“We had already started to see a general trend away from buying huge whole turkeys over the past few years, but given what has happened in 2020, this has been accelerated.”

Mr Badley added: “It has been particularly heartwarming to see so many new customers this year, who are telling us they want to support their independent local traders at this time.

“It’s not just our business they are helping – it’s the many local suppliers that companies like us use too.”