Brits planning an egg-stra special start to Christmas Day

Brits planning an egg-stra special start to Christmas Day

15 December 2017

Christmas Day Brunch is on the menu for many households across the UK.  

It seems breakfast really is the most important meal of the day as Brits continue to enjoy brunch so much they’re even planning to squeeze it into their Christmas day celebrations. As Sainsbury’s reveals an increase in sales of key brunch ingredients ahead of the big day, it’s clear the nation is stepping up its breakfast offering to give household guests a delicious start to the big day.

Sales from the week before Christmas last year demonstrate Brits’ insatiable appetite for brunch carries on into the festive season. Smoked Salmon and Trout saw the biggest uplift of 28% year-on-year last Christmas, closely followed by Ripe & Ready Avocados (+25%) and English muffins (+22%). Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Hollandaise sauce was also high on Santa’s list as sales rose by 23% - in fact, a over 2.5 tonnes of Sainsbury’s hollandaise sauce was sold in December last year.

Weekend brunching has been one of the biggest trends of 2017 and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. The #brunch hashtag has amassed over 13 million pictures on Instagram this year alone. In preparation for this year’s Christmas Day brunch feast, Sainsbury’s has launched a number of ready-prepared brunch products to enable customers to serve a restaurant-quality brunch at home without taking their eye off the turkey. These include Taste the Difference Hot Smoked Salmon Eggs Royale, Taste the Difference Honeyed Bacon Joint and Taste the Difference Hash Brown Brunch Frittatas.

For customers wanting to create their own feast from scratch on Christmas morning, the retailer has adapted its in-store layout to ensure all brunch ingredients are displayed together, making it easy for customers to pick up everything they need to make it a perfect meal to kick-start the big day. Sainsbury’s expects to sell over 2.3 million boxes of eggs in the week running up to Christmas day. Shoppers are also predicted to buy almost half a million bottles of fizz in a single day on what Sainsbury’s is forecasting to be “Sparkling Saturday” on 23rd December. Research commissioned by the retailer revealed a third of the nation expects to pop the cork before midday, recreating the ‘boozy brunch’ trend that’s been made popular in restaurants across the nation this year.

Judith Batchelar, Director of Sainsbury’s Brand, commented, “We’ve seen a shift in how and what customers eat on Christmas Day in recent years. People still enjoy a big dinner, but it might come later in the day after a big family brunch. We’ve seen brunch boom this year which is why we’ve launched a new range of delicious ready to eat brunch items to ensure people can really make it their own.

“Living well is at the heart of everything we do for our customers. We know that people like to treat themselves and their loved ones at Christmas – that’s why we continue to invest in food quality and innovation to enable our customers to enjoy a fuss free Christmas with an easy route to instant luxury.”