Christmas is just around the corner but the supermarkets picked out what we’ll be eating and drinking on the big day some time ago.
We take a look at some of the key food and drink trends for Christmas 2024 from the likes of Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Tesco, Asda, Co-op, Aldi and M&S.
Tesco is betting on cheese being a big purchase this year, as 61% of UK adults say they’d rather make up their own cheeseboards versus buying a prepared one. The retailer found that the top five cheeses for a board this year are cheddar, brie, red Leicester, flavoured wensleydale and camembert.
It also found that among party food, the cheeseboard was voted the most popular party food item by 17%.
Aldi is tapping in on the trend with a Specially Selected Luxury Cheese Truckle Tower, a centrepiece which weighs 1kg and includes Extra Mature Coastal Cheddar, Aged Red Leicester, Wensleydale with Cranberry and Cassis Flavour and Balsamic Onion Cheddar.
Asda is also offering shoppers a ‘Fantastic Grazing Board’ and ‘Charcuter-wreath’, both of which offer DIY kits to get creative, offering charcuterie and cheese board classics.
Asda’s ‘Charcuter-wreath’
The grazing platter features Queen Halkidiki olives, double-stuffed with garlic and jalapeno olives in Calabrian chilli, garlic and parsley marinade, Manchego cheese, sourdough breadsticks, slow-roasted marinated tomatoes, Italian bruschetta and a roasted red pepper dip.
Meanwhile, the charcuter-wreath includes Italian Milano salami, prosciutto, Manchego cheese triangles, mini cornichons and sweet red pepper drops.
New to M&S for 2024 is a Cheese Board selection, Charcuterie & Antipasti Grazing Platter, and a Collection Charcuterie Grazing Platter.
While boards remain popular, Asda has upped its festive grazing selection with a Festive Pork King Kebab, which features a pork kebab, marinated in a sage and shallot rub and finished with a sticky apple sauce, which can be served encased in a Yorkshire pudding.
Asda’s Festive Pork King Kebab
Co-op Christmas sandwiches
Not only a trend this Christmas but a key highlight of 2024, supermarkets have ramped up their festive food-to-go ranges with a range of innovative additions.
For 2024, convenience retailer Co-op is boosting its lunchtime meal deal offer with two festive additions to its premium range, including a peppercorn steak wrap with rosemary gravy dip, and a turkey, truffle and brie sandwich.
Co-op food-to-go developer Rebecca Galloway says: “The festive sandwich has become part of the Christmas tradition for many of us across the country and we know our members and customers eagerly anticipate picking up a festive lunchtime treat when they pop into our stores.”
Meanwhile, Asda is tapping into less traditional Christmas flavours with a new Let It Spice Festive Curry Wrap with chicken breast, winter-spiced slaw, cranberry chutney and sweet and mildly spiced curry sauce.
Asda product manager of Christmas sandwiches Kathryn Saveall says: “The curry wrap is all about tapping into the typical trend of creating a curry with Christmas leftovers, so if you’re fed up of the traditional roast turkey & trimmings, then the new curry wrap is for you.”
Tesco is holding strong on classic festive flavours with its Finest Festive Chicken & Bacon Wrap with Gravy Mayonnaise Dip, Festive Chicken, Bacon & Stuffing Mayo Baguette, and Finest Turkey BLT.
This year, Waitrose is betting on “new nostalgia”, offering family favourites with a new twist.
The upmarket retailer is launching Warming Crispy Bacon Carbonara Cups bite size for party food, No.1 Lobster, Crab & Prawn Cocktails and its No.1 Frangipane Mince Pies with caramelised almonds.
Waitrose Warming Crispy Bacon Carbonara Cups
Sainsbury’s is also tapping into this trend, as director of product and innovation Claire Hughes says: “Christmas is a time for nostalgia and this year, 60% of the nation plan on rediscovering the joy of retro dishes that hark back to the trends and traditions they grew up with.
“You can expect dishes like terrine, miniature party food and prawn cocktail to make an appearance at the table this year.”
This year, Tesco is expecting the biggest ever seasonal sales of low and no alcohol drinks, with 24% of people drinking less alcohol this Christmas than previous years.
As a result, it has included Elderflower Spritzi and Blood Orange Spritzi drinks (RRP £5) to its offering, alongside Finest mocktails in Passionfruit, Pina Colada and Mojito, and alcohol-free Sauvignon Blanc and Malbec.
Tesco Blood Orange Spritzi
For those opting for a tipple this Christmas, Sainsbury’s is offering three flavoured liqueur’s as part of its Taste the Difference range in Tiramisu, Sticky Toffee Rum and Berry Compote Gin.
Asda’s festive cocktails for 2024 include a Black Cherry Gin, which is infused with Juniper, orange, coriander, angelica, liquorice cassia and orris root, and blended with the natural extracts of black cherry with notes of almond and fresh cherry.
It is also launching an Extra Special Spiced White Chocolate Cream Liqueur, which features triple distilled wheat-based British vodka blended with Irish whisky, Madagascan vanilla, clove, cassia, nutmeg and double cream.
This year, Asda’s signature flavour is Fig, Whisky and Honey, a taste also being rolled out to its Exceptional Mince Pies.
Asda senior director of food innovation and trends Jonathan Moore says: “Following the success of last year, Asda’s signature flavour is back for 2024. This year, it draws in rich, smoky and fruity flavours, with a nod to the rising trends of honey and whisky, with a taste of the traditional through the fig.”
Meanwhile, Aldi’s mince pie range is welcoming the addition of a new savoury offering, the Specially Selected Ruby Port, Fig and Cheese Puff Pastry Mince Pie.
Aldi’s Specially Selected Ultimate Gold Coin
Aldi is also looking to innovate across its dessert selection this year with the new Specially Selected Ultimate Gold Coin, which the discounter claims is its “most indulgent dessert to date”. It includes layers of decadent ingredients encased in a Belgian Chocolate shell with Specially Selected embossed on top, which can be cracked open.
At M&S, dessert highlights this year include the upmarket retailer’s classic Colin the Caterpillar cake with a festive sleigh ride makeover, a brand new Collection Salted Caramel Tiramisu Cheesecake, and a Christmas Cabin Cake.
Sainsbury’s Christmas dinner in a box
This year, retailers including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, M&S and Iceland are looking to ramp up convenience on the big day with a ‘Christmas dinner in a box’.
At Sainsbury’s, the box, which serves four includes a buttermilk brined turkey topped with stuffing and wrapped in dry cured bacon, served with roast potatoes, parsnips and carrots, pigs in blankets and turkey gravy for £45. Meanwhile, Iceland’s offering will be available at £25.
According to Tesco, there were over 32 million pigs in blankets sold for Christmas 2023 and over 600,000 searches for pigs in blankets on Tesco.com in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
Tapping into the popular festive staple this year, Iceland is launching a Luxury XXL Pigs in Blankets Yorkshire Pudding, which features a ready to bake Yorkshire Pudding filled with a pork sausage seasoned with spices and wrapped in smoky flavoured streaky bacon.
Meanwhile, Asda is offering an Exceptional Pigs in Blankets Wreath with Camembert and Hot Honey Drizzle – another flavour trend of 2024.
Asda’s Exceptional Pigs in Blankets Wreath with Camembert and Hot Honey Drizzle
For this year, Aldi is launching a Specially Selected Ultimate Pigs in Blankets, which it describes as “bigger than your average pig in blanket”.
According to Tesco, more than a quarter (27%) of shoppers say they will serve or consider prioritising vegetarian or plant-based options as part of their main Christmas fare and the supermarket is giving them many tasty options to choose from.
Tesco product development and innovation director Breige Donaghy says: “We know that a number of customers are choosing plant-based diets and we’re seeing an increase in desire for Christmas centrepieces that are meat-free. We have an incredible range of inspiring and delicious meat-free options that give the traditional meat mains a run for their money in terms of flavour and flair for your Christmas table.”
Highlights in Tesco’s veggie offering include a Plant Chef Seeded Roast, Finest Roasted Vegetable and Cranberry Star, Finest Butternut Wellington, Finest Chef’s Collection Feta, Spinach and Celeriac Spanakopita with Hot Honey Drizzle, and Finest Chef’s Collection Handcrafted Winter Vegetable and Three Cheese Pithivier with Salsa Verde.
Meanwhile, M&S has unveiled two new and exclusive veggie dishes with a Collection Handcrafted Honey Glazed Vegetable & Barber’s Cheddar Tart, and a Collection Butternut Squash, Brie & Caramelised Onion Wellington.
M&S’ Collection Butternut Squash, Brie & Caramelised Onion Wellington
Aldi has also invested in its ever-growing vegan and vegetarian range this Christmas with a new Specially Selected Roasted Vegetable Snowflake, which is packed with butternut squash, chestnuts, cranberries and pumpkin seeds and topped with a chestnut crumb and mulled festive drizzle.
Shoppers can also opt for a new Specially Selected Rainbow Vegetable Parcel, offering seasoned layers of spinach, broccoli, roasted butternut squash and braised red cabbage with a mushroom and cranberry duxelle which is hand-wrapped in crispy pastry.