Plant-based festive feasts booming as supermarkets brace for Christmas rush
They used to be front and centre on nearly every Christmas table in the country – but surprising new figures prove that’s no longer the case.
Retail
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Traditional Christmas dinners are being replaced in record numbers as Aussie tastebuds evolve and diet requirements change, according to our biggest grocery chains.
While there’s definitely still a place for classic ham and turkey, seafood is becoming more popular than ever for the big day – and more and more shoppers are also ditching meat altogether and embracing a plant-based festive season.
And in another trend, traditional dishes like fruit mince pies and puddings are now getting a modern twist to reflect new customer demands.
According to Coles’ senior development chef Michael Weldon, the supermarket giant has “the most inclusive Christmas range ever” this year, catering for meatlovers, pescetarians, vegans and everything in between.
He said the new Coles Own Brand Christmas range includes 250 items and is thought to be the largest own-brand Christmas range released by any Australian supermarket in 2019.
Some of those highlights include Coles Own Brand Easy Carve Semi Boneless Crackling Ham, Coles Boneless Butterflied Leg of Lamb with Pomegranate and Rosemary, Coles Atlantic Salmon Pastrami Roast and the Coles Plant Based Christmas Roast with Sweet Chutney.
Mr Weldon said the latter catered for the growing demand for vegan and flexitarian meal options, with Vegan Australia estimating there are now half a million vegans living in Australia.
Meanwhile, half of all Coles shoppers will have seafood as part of their Christmas lunch or dinner, with the $26 Australian Atlantic salmon coated in a Pastrami dry rub among the top picks for seafood lovers.
Pavlovas, puddings and mince pies are among the most popular desserts for Christmas with Coles customers expected to buy almost one million kilograms of them combined.
But many options have been given a fresh makeover, such as $5 packs of Coles Finest Sloe Gin Fruit Mince Pies, the $13 Coles Finest Luxury Melting Chocolate Pudding and the $10 Coles Finest Luxury Chocolate, Raspberry and Prosecco Sponge Pudding.
Coles will sell almost four million kilograms of Aussie mangoes, more than one million kilograms of locally grown cherries and two million kilograms of ham in the lead up to Christmas, but you’ll have to get in quick – the original boneless Crackling Ham was a sellout last year.
Fellow grocery behemoth Woolworths is also noticing the trend toward new dietary requirements, and is reflected in the increased range of festive “Free From” products, including puddings and mince pies, as well as plant-based roasts or the new Plantitude range which includes a vegan chocolate and hazelnut mud cake.
“We want to make it easier for everyone to enjoy Christmas this year which is why we are pleased to offer our customers more choices than ever to pick up plant-based desserts, roasts, mince, burger patties, sausages for their Christmas meals or barbecue from their local Woolworths,” Woolworths Supermarkets managing director Claire Peters said.
She said to meet changing tastebuds, Woolworths has introduced new innovative twists to this year’s Christmas range with new products that still fit with tradition, such as the Gold Mocha Espresso Martini Flavoured Pudding or the Gold Ruby Chocolate Cheesecake.
There’s also a huge trend towards experimentation, with Woolworths research revealing 77 per cent of households will be trying a new recipe this Christmas – although more than 40 per cent will also be making use of shortcut products and will be serving more bite-sized food.
In the weeks leading up to Christmas more than 400,000 kilos of fresh turkeys will be sold at Woolworths, along with over 130,000 kilos of seasonal chicken roasts, more than five million fruit mince pies, over half a million pavlovas and more than 1.2 million kilos of Aussie prawns.
Ham is still the most popular Christmas staple, and Woolworths expects to sell more than 2.2 million kilos of its most popular 100% Australian pork Woolworths Bone In Half Leg Ham for $9 per kg.
Customers will also pick up over 32 million cherries and 2.5 million mangoes – and the equivalent of 35 swimming pools of custard over the Christmas period, along with 1.5 million kilos of reindeer carrots and more than 300,000 Woolworths Dreamy Chocolate Chip Cookies.
And 60 per cent of Woolworths’ prawn sales will be made in the last two days before Christmas along with more than one million oysters.
And Aldi is also getting into the festive spirit, with the supermarket favourite expecting its Golden Champagne Pudding to be a big seller.
“We’ve worked hard to get the flavours in our Golden Champagne Pudding just right and as the highest scoring pudding in Choice’s test, we believe we’ve achieved this,” an Aldi spokeswoman said.
“While our Monsigny Champagne is a key ingredient, we also want other flavours such as the golden cherries, almonds and spice to come through.”
As always, business will be booming at Sydney Fish Market, which will trade a total of 370 tonnes of seafood at auction for the week leading into Christmas.
That will include 35 tonnes of Black Tiger Prawn, 30 tonnes of Snapper, 25 tonnes of Farmed Yellowtail Kingfish and 15 tonnes each of New Zealand King Salmon and Farmed Barramundi.
Other big sellers are Farmed Barramundi, Yellowbelly Flounder, Ocean Jacket, Blue Mackerel, Monkfish fillets, Striped Marlin steaks, School Whiting and Blue Mussel – and around one million individual oysters will likely also be sold at retail.
And let’s not forget the booze.
According to Adam Jenkins, head of spirits and beer at Dan Murphys, the retailer expects to sell more bottles of Champagne in the month of December than in the three months prior.
“We see a strong uplift across our beer category during the summer and Christmas period, particularly among premium and craft beer brands,” he said.
“In spirits, we expect gin to continue its strong growth leading into Christmas, with whisky continuing to be a popular gifting choice.”
Meanwhile, research from comparison site finder.com.au has revealed Aussies plan on spending $358 on food and alcohol this Christmas, totalling more than $18 million across the country.
They also plan on forking out $153 on eating and drinking out this silly season, and a further $36 on food delivery services such as UberEats and Deliveroo.
Originally published as Plant-based festive feasts booming as supermarkets brace for Christmas rush