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Plan your festive food and save money this Christmas

Date released: December 12, 2025

  • An estimated 18,000 tonnes of food waste is generated by households each month in Ireland
  • Food waste costs families at least €60 a month, even more in December. 
  • The EPA encourages everyone to invest time to plan their festive food shopping to save money and waste less this Christmas. 
  • Food and drink businesses can play their part by signing the Food Waste Charter and committing to reducing food waste.

11 December 2025: Christmas is a wonderfully social time of the year. We eat out more, and we invite family and friends to celebrate with festive meals. However, it is also the time of year when we waste more food. On average, an estimated 18,000 tonnes of food waste is generated by households each month in Ireland. Wasted food is a nutritional and economic loss, costing families at least €60 each month.

The good news is that taking some simple steps to plan your food will save you money and time and make you feel more organised this Christmas! 

Stop Food Waste has four top tips to help everyone reduce their festive food waste and make the most of their leftovers.

  1. Plan your Christmas menu: This year, plan how much food you will need for the number of people joining your festive gathering. Think back to last Christmas and the types of food you wasted. Perhaps you bought food that you don’t typically eat - and no one liked it? Or maybe you stocked up on too many basics like milk and bread, or bought in too large a quantity of vegetables or meat? Try an online portion size calculator to help you estimate the amounts you need. 
  2. Stick to your Christmas shopping list: Write your Christmas food shopping list before you leave the house. Check what items you already have in your fridge, cupboards and freezer, so you only buy food you need. Stick to your Christmas food list and don’t be tempted by ‘buy–one–get-one-free’ or other special offers. They are not a good deal unless you need them. Make sure the ‘use-by’ dates on perishable food, such as dairy and meat, will still be good when you plan to eat them. 
  3. Store your Christmas food properly: Storing food properly will help it last longer. Remember that freezing your Christmas food, such as bread, cream, vegetables and even wine, before or after cooking, is like a pause button adding weeks or even months to the life of foods. Fridge and freezer space might be tight so in these weeks before Christmas try to use up what’s already there and make some space. 
  4. Remember to use Christmas leftovers: Leftovers are the main staple on St. Stephen’s Day, or ‘National Leftovers Day’. They are delicious ingredients for a snack or dinner. A good tip is instead of plating up on Christmas Day, allow everyone to serve themselves. We’re more inclined to save leftovers from serving dishes. Once cooled, store leftovers in reusable, resealable containers in the fridge, to be eaten and not forgotten! For wonderful leftover ideas visit ‘12 Days of Christmas Recipes’ and ‘Luscious Leftovers’.

Businesses have a role to play too, as nearly two-thirds of food waste is generated from food sector businesses. Here are some top tips to avoid waste during the busy Christmas period:

  1. Designing festive menus: Avoid overstocking by planning ahead. Try to keep the range of perishable ingredients needed to a minimum and plan so they can be used in a variety of dishes. Prepare menu specials to add variety and use up seasonal ingredients to avoid wastage.
  2. Managing the stores: having good procedures for labelling food when tubbing, storing and managing the stores with a first-in-first-out system will avoid costly ingredients going to waste.
  3. Confirming the number of guests: for Christmas parties, ask customers to confirm numbers shortly before the event. If serving a buffet serve smaller batches and replenish when needed. 
  4. Keep up the good habits: many food service businesses have signed the national Food Waste Charter pledging their commitment to measure and reduce their food waste – maybe it can be a New Year’s resolution for your business to sign up!

Further information: Emily Williamson, EPA Media Relations Office 053-9170770 (24 hours) or media@epa.ie

Notes to the Editor:

Stop Food Waste is the national public campaign for reducing household food waste, led by the Environmental Protection Agency. The campaign provides information and easy tips to make the most of food and avoid wasting it through the stopfoodwaste.ie website and on social media (@stopfoodwaste.ie on Instagram and Facebook). 

EPA figures show that in 2023, Ireland generated 830,000 tonnes of food waste across primary production, manufacturing & processing, distribution & retail, restaurants & food services and households. For more information on Food Waste Statistics look at the EPA website.

Food businesses can join the fight against food waste by signing the Food Waste Charter. Check out the Fact Sheet on food waste for hospitality businesses.