Discount supermarket Lidl has hailed a "record" Christmas as it revealed that sales surged during the key December trading period.
A trading update from the German firm said it sold more than six million glasses of its pink Prosecco, 2.7million servings of panatone and was shifting 17,000 luxury mince pies every single hour.
Overall, the retailer said total sales jumped 17.9% in the four weeks to December 27, compared with the same period last year.
Lidl said the increase in sales was partly driven by customers picking up more items during each shopping trip, with the average basket size increasing by 24.8% during the period.
Sales of Lidl's premium Deluxe range also increased, rising by 22% as customers wanted to celebrate the festive season with treats despite the pandemic, it said.
Christian Hartnagel, chief executive of Lidl GB, said: "Despite this Christmas being a difficult time for many across the country, we are pleased to have been able to help our customers enjoy themselves by offering high quality food at the lowest prices on the market.
"Our record sales and significant basket size growth just demonstrates the strength of the Lidl appeal.
"As we look ahead to this year, we remain committed to our expansion and investment plans, offering more customers up and down the country our great quality, unbeatable value offer."
He added that is was the staff he needed to thank for the excellent performance.
"I’m really proud of how our teams have worked together during this festive period," Hartnagel said.
"I want to extend my thanks in particular to our colleagues. They are the absolute backbone of our business and have remained dedicated to ensuring customers could get the products they love, in a safe shopping environment."
But it wasn't just about profits, with Lidl's Christmas Eve donation seeing more than 180,000 products, the equivalent of £150,000 worth of food, given to charities and those in need too.
