From collectable biscuit tins, to light up gin snow globes and charcuterie Christmas trees, M&S is often at the forefront of seasonal food trends, levelling up buffet and dinner tables across the UK.
Stephen Fitzgerald, head of product development at the retailer, is one of the people who helps work out what will end up on the supermarket’s shelves – and our plates – every Christmas.
‘I have one of the best jobs in the world,’ Stephen, 53, says. ‘Getting to design amazing, delicious food is great fun, and that’s really our main aim – it has to be as delicious as it can possibly be.’
These words couldn’t be truer than at Christmas time when everyone is looking to indulge a little more than usual.
However, according to Stephen, who has worked at M&S for 12 years, starting as a development chef, he can’t go totally wild when coming up with tasty new treats for us all. In fact, there’s one essential rule the team has to follow when coming up with products for the holiday season.
‘There has to be a balance around Christmas because it’s such a nostalgic time of year in terms of food and tradition, but at the same time, people want novelty and they want something different and interesting,’ he tells Metro.
‘You can’t make something too tricksy, so we have a motto which is that you can change one thing, but don’t change two.
‘If you change too much, customers can become a little bit frightened, so we kind of take them by the hand and coax them into change.’
Stephen’s prime example of this is the new Turkey Feast Lasagne (£9) which sees the beef mince replaced with a slow cooked turkey ragu, sausagemeat, and cranberry stuffing, all of which is layered between egg pasta and a rich bechamel sauce.
‘People love lasagne, so what we’ve done is put a bit of a twist on the classic. We changed the meat and added all the elements of our Turkey Feast sandwich, but kept the familiar format.
‘I’m sure there are Nonnas in Italy who would be absolutely appalled by it, but it’s resonating with customers.’
Another twist on a classic in the Christmas range is the Brussels Sprout & Leek Gratin (£10). For this dish, British Brussels sprouts are mixed with a rich, creamy white wine sauce, leeks, cavolo nero, vintage cheddar, and mozzarella, and then topped with crispy onions and ciabatta breadcrumbs.
‘Sprouts are so significant at Christmas, but they’re a bit like Marmite. We love them, but we wanted to come up with something that would also appeal to someone who doesn’t,’ Stephen explained.
‘It was clearly time to move on from boiled sprouts, and this product is a nice balance between a lovely cauliflower cheese bake and Brussels sprouts. We sort of mashed the two together and came out with this and it’s an amazing product.’
While many of us are only just discovering the joys of the Turkey Feast Lasagne and Brussels Sprout Gratin, Stephen and his team have already moved on to looking at what will feature in the Christmas range for 2025.
They get to work on festive food up to a year in advance, meaning it can feel like Christmas every single day in the test kitchen.
But it’s not just the food itself that can take a while to get right, the packaging can also take months to complete.
‘If you look at our light up tins, like Santa’s Workshop and the snowing chocolate box, there’s a lot of innovation in the technical aspects. They look magical, and that will have taken 16 to 18 months to come together,’ Stephen says.
One product that’s been an especially long time in the making is the Italian Nocciolato Panettone, which Stephen claims is ‘incredible’.
‘It took a long time to identify the right supplier, get the design on the tin, and make it the best it can be – you can’t rush that. The team were dead set on absolute quality, and luckily we managed to find an amazing artisan supplier in Italy. The wait was worth it, as we’ve ended up with a panettone that you can put up against anything you’d find at an Italian bakery.’
The panettone is one of 450 new products launched for Christmas this year, but the team initially came up with around 1,350 ideas before figuring out which ones would make the cut.
‘We spread the net wide in the early stages so we can capture everything, and nothing is really ruled out unless there’s a good reason for it – for instance if we can’t get the raw materials to make it. You might see something in a restaurant and think it’s amazing but to scale that into a factory, put it into a box and sell it on a shelf might not be possible.
‘Sometimes it’s more about taking the essence of an idea and transferring it into a suitable product. I think product developers are a bit like squirrels, in that way, as they take nuggets from all over, store them up, and bring them back at the right time.’
Stephen's top picks from the M&S Christmas range 2024:
His favourite item: Santa’s Workshop Musical Light-Up Tin
It’s so awesome. You can buy it and pull it out for Christmas every year. I use our tins as Christmas decorations every year, they look great on the shelves.
Most underrated item: Caramel & Almond Muddles
We saw something similar over in the US and we’re the first retailers to do this kind of thing in the UK. They’re amazing, with lovely retro packaging. But I think a lot of our customers don’t know what they are, so they play it safe and buy something else, but they’re missing out as these are delicious.
Drink you need to try: White Mulled Wine
An incredible drink, it’s a bit lighter than the traditional version, and a glass of it will pair perfectly with turkey leftovers.
Stephen continues: ‘You also have to try and hit trends when the public are ready for them. Salted Caramel is a great example of this. M&S was the first UK retailer to launch the combination in 2006, selling liquid salted caramel chocolates, but unfortunately, customers weren’t ready for the sweet and salty pairing at the time, and we had to take it off the shelves.
‘Three years later, M&S decided to try again and launched a new range of products including chocolates and salted caramel sauce. Within a few weeks sales were soaring.
‘So sometimes we’ll hold on to idea just because we love them, and while that means the same suggestions keep coming up, it’s fine as one day it might happen.’
As with salted caramel, M&S often leads the way when it comes to fun flavour pairings and food trends, but how exactly do they work out what the next big thing will be and jump on it before everyone else?
‘We definitely have an informed view, whether that’s from market research or customer insights – it’s a heavily educated guess,’ Stephen explains.
‘At the same time there’s always an element to it that when [a new product] worries you a little bit, that’s probably quite a good thing, it’s quite healthy. If it’s going to be a safe bet then anyone could do that. It’s when you get a little bit of fear, then you realise you might be on to an absolute winner, and that’s what we like to do. We like to push boundaries and thankfully we get it right more often than we don’t.’
And while Stephen couldn’t say much about what we can expect to see making waves in the food hall in 2025, he did reveal that some current big hitters aren’t going anywhere any time soon.
More Trending
‘We like to set trends, but you obviously can’t ignore things like hot honey or pistachio, which are everywhere at the moment. We’ve put our own spin on these, elevated them and given them mass appeal.
‘I think the M&S magic is finding that sweet spot between something that’s on trend, which customers might not quite understand, and making it accessible for them, and our chocolate covered pistachios have been a big success.
‘I think there’s definitely more of these flavour profiles, or similar, to come – we’re really only just on the start of that journey.’
Do you have a story to share?
Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.
MORE: UK café with ‘phenomenal’ fry-ups named one of world’s most legendary restaurants
MORE: Ian Huntley’s ex-girlfriend Maxine Carr enjoys Christmas at ‘taxpayers’ expense’
MORE: The little-known McDonald’s restaurant with off-menu items and free food for customers
