While nearly half of us have been buying more own-label goods in the last three months to save money on their food shop, the general consensus is that Christmas is no time for compromises. Six in ten of us agree that having popular food and drink brands in the house is important on special occasions.
And that could explain why, despite the recent rise of own-label, more than half of those who celebrate Christmas still intend to buy favourite food and drink brands over the festive period that they don’t buy all year round. New research conducted by OnePoll has revealed that chocolate is the number one food and drink category shoppers will turn to when buying their favourite brands this Christmas (30 per cent), followed by desserts (27 per cent), wine (25 per cent), cheese (25 per cent), sparkling wine (24 per cent), cake (24 per cent) and spirits (22 per cent).
And nearly two thirds of Brits who celebrate Christmas go as far as to say that there are certain food and drink brands without which Christmas simply wouldn’t be Christmas. The top five brands considered to be essential at this time of year all sit within the chocolate category, with Quality Street taking the no.1 spot – chosen by more than a quarter of Brits (27 per cent) – followed by Terry’s Chocolate Orange (22 per cent), Celebrations (22 per cent), Roses (20 per cent) and Ferrero (18 per cent).
Jemma Handley, Quality Street brand manager at Nestlé, said: “Brands like Quality Street mean a lot to people and take us back to our childhoods. There is simply no own label alternative to that.
“When Quality Street launched in 1936, chocolate was an expensive luxury that was unaffordable for many people. What Quality Street did was to combine chocolate with Violet Mackintosh’s famous toffee, thereby introducing the nation to a new taste sensation.
“86 years on, Quality Street remains a magical brand that can spark national debate in a way that few others can. Everyone has their favourite sweet and competing for the last Purple One or Caramel Swirl is a much-loved tradition for families across the UK.”
The main reason why Brits think having popular food and drink brands in the house is important on special occasions is that it’s a family tradition to do so followed by brands being a sign of quality (58 per cent) and stirring up feelings of nostalgia. Having said all that though, 83 per cent of Brits think it’s important that brands with heritage make changes to keep up with the times, such as by making changes to be more sustainable.
This year marks Quality Street’s first Christmas with its new sustainable packaging – a move that will remove more than two billion individual pieces of packaging material from its supply chain globally. Jemma added: “Quality Street has been making history from day one – using the world's first twist-wrapping machine to revolutionize the way chocolates were manufactured and sold. Now, at Quality Street’s home in West Yorkshire, we are making history again with the introduction of an innovative paper packaging alternative for our famous sweets.
“It’s fantastic to see that Quality Street is the number one brand for shoppers this Christmas – and now we stand out from other brands in our category for another important reason. We know that consumers care about the environment and want their favourite brands to move with the times, and that's why we're making our packaging as easy as possible to recycle.”
THE 12 BRANDS OF CHRISTMAS 2022
- Quality Street
- Terry’s Chocolate Orange
- Celebrations
- Roses
- Ferrero
- Pringles
- Mr Kipling
- Lindt
- Coca-Cola
- Dairy Milk
- Jacob’s
- Aunt Bessie’s
