Waitrose, M&S preview UK 2025 Christmas ranges as supermarkets vie for festive shoppers

Waitrose has revealed its 2025 Christmas food range, saying it will launch 267 new products for the festive season including a mulled rosé, a hand-crafted "No.1 Free Range Turkey Bauble" with festive stuffing and a No.1 Cauliflower Cheese Galette Crown aimed at vegetarian shoppers.

The supermarket said consumer interest is building early — searches for "Christmas" rose 536% online in the last month — and outlined centrepieces, sides, desserts and a range of trend-driven drinks aimed at shoppers planning ahead.

Waitrose highlighted a selection of showstoppers intended to give customers options across traditional and alternative centrepieces. Alongside the Turkey Bauble, the line-up includes a No.1 Slow Cooked British Beef Shin with Bone Marrow, a spiced sweet-cured British Gammon glazed with black cherry, and a No.1 Stuffed Scottish Salmon with prawns and a salsa verde drizzle. For vegetarians, the retailer cited a No.1 Mushroom, Malbec & Port Wellington and the Cauliflower Cheese Galette Crown, a hand-crimped, bakery-made centrepiece using Barber's Mature and Vintage Cheddars.

Samantha Angell, Waitrose's head of innovation, said the range was "curated to help every food lover craft truly special Christmas moments," adding it was designed to span "showstopping centrepieces and nostalgic party bites to the ultimate gifting range, decadent sweet treats, and trend-driven festive tipples." Waitrose also pointed to specific consumer trends, saying searches for Nutcracker-themed desserts were increasing year on year and that social buzz around limoncello had risen by 23% during the festive season, prompting a Golden Limoncello Mince Pie variant.

Dessert offerings named by Waitrose include a No.1 Nutcracker dessert decorated with amber lustre dust, a pistachio meringata, a Sicilian lemon and mascarpone delice, and Triple Chocolate Snowflakes. Sophie Maltby, a dessert product developer at Waitrose, said the Nutcracker dessert was intended as a "showstopping, festive centrepiece" designed to evoke "cherished childhood Christmases and the joy of treasured family traditions." Will Torrent, a senior innovation chef, described the Golden Limoncello Mince Pies as an "exclusive" product combining all-butter pastry with boozy mincemeat and golden fruits.

Marks & Spencer has not yet released a full 2025 festive range but a preliminary glimpse from its Bexley Heath store on TikTok showed seasonal snack and sweet variants. The store clip suggested a Percy Pig Christmas special called "Naughty and Nice Piglets" and listed several limited-edition crisp flavours such as Maple Bacon Flavour Combo Mix, Salt and Vinegar Christmas Stars and Butter Basted Roast Turkey crisps, alongside sweet items including peppermint bark, hot maple popcorn and Scottish shortbread petticoat tails.

The early reveals come amid ongoing competition across UK supermarkets for festive spending. Which? surveyed more than 8,000 members in January 2024 and ranked Aldi the best supermarket for Christmas essentials, awarding it an 84% score, ahead of Marks & Spencer on 82% and Waitrose on 80%. The consumer group placed Lidl on 78%. Julie Ashfield, managing director of buying at Aldi UK, said the retailer was "thrilled" to be recognised for value, quality and service, noting efforts to expand its vegan and vegetarian festive range.

Retailers typically publish seasonal ranges earlier in the autumn as customers start planning and booking festive menus. Waitrose said its 2025 collection is intended to provide a broad spread of traditional and trend-led products so shoppers can select full menus or individual items in the lead-up to December.