IT’S CHRISTMAS! (ALMOST

Let’s talk about Christmas...

The festive season is approaching, and with our best-ever range of great value food and drink we couldn’t be more excited. Here’s a sneak peek of what’s coming your way

INTERVIEW JESSICA CARTER

LET’S TALK...

exciting food trends

Jonathan Moore

Senior director of food innovation and trends

LET’S TALK...

sensational quality

Linsey Taylor

Senior director of product and packaging development

It might seem early to be talking about Christmas, but we’ve actually been planning it for two or three years! Our food and drink range this year really is our best ever, with a host of new ideas to enjoy over the festive period.

Bringing the wow factor

One of the biggest food trends we’ve seen is for fun dishes that make a statement visually. Our Millionaire’s Edible Chocolate Bowl is a great example – it’s filled with salted caramel, toffee mousse, Belgian chocolate ganache, and edible chocolate spoons. There’s also our chocolatey Double Smash Reindeer cake, which you break through to reveal Jingle the reindeer, hiding more treats in his nose!

Canapés on the quick

There’s also a trend towards high quality ready-made food – so we expect our new Antipasti Platters to fly off the shelves. They’re full of great quality cured meats and cheeses. You rip off the lid and serve, so they’re great for easy entertaining. Our frozen Maple Pigs in Blankets are real winners too.

Luxurious liqueurs

Who doesn’t love a cream liqueur at Christmas? So now we’ve developed our own. The Extra Special Blonde Chocolate is outstanding – it’s made with double cream, Caribbean rum, Madagascan vanilla and caramel. It’s Christmas in a glass. At Christmas, we all want the very best quality – but at affordable prices. So this year we’ve invested hugely in our own brand range, so you don’t need to splurge to get great-quality food. The value on offer is truly incredible.

The ultimate Christmas feast

We’ve got Christmas Day covered, whether you want traditional turkey or something different. Our own Carvery Selection Box is a winner: it includes a turkey breast joint, beef and gammon, slow cooked to make prep quick and easy.

Another wow-factor Christmas centrepiece is our Extra Special Ultimate Tomahawk Wellington. The meat is wrapped in a shiitake mushroom duxelles, then a threecheese layer and all-butter pastry on top.

We’re also proud to have more vegan and Free From options than ever. Our own-brand Vegan Turkey Crown is plant-based but has a wonderful texture and taste. It has an umami-laced vegan butter for basting, and there’s a crumb on top that crisps up like turkey skin.

Food from the heart

We’re equally proud of our puddings. Our new Extra Special Raspberry and Dark Chocolate Nougat is made by a small family business in Italy, using a 95-year-old recipe. And our Classic Panettone comes from Italy too – it features a live dough culture, maintained since 1964 – what flavours!

Stars of the season

Top row, from left: Double Smash ‘Jingle’ Reindeer Cake; Extra Special Tomahawk Wellington This row, from left: Extra Special Vegan Chocolate Bauble; Extra Special Chocolate Orange and Blonde Cream liqueurs Bottom row, from left: Extra Special Belgian Chocolate Peppermint Fudge, alongside Raspberry and Dark Chocolate nougat, and Almond and Hazelnut nougat; Plant-based Vegan Turkey Crown with umami basting stock. DON’T MISS OUR CHRISTMAS SPECIAL ISSUE!

Pick it up free in store from 7 November and see who’s at ours this season...