Tesco : Getting ready for Christmas

25 Jul 2017

It's fair to say that at Tesco we are literally thinking about Christmas all year round.

Each year we hold an event called Christmas in July where we invite consumer and trade media to preview our Christmas product range before it goes on sale in our stores and online.

A huge amount of planning goes into the event and we work closely with our supplier partners to bring new and exciting products to our customers that will help them impress their guests at Christmas time.

Creating products to impress

When we develop products for Christmas the team set themselves a high bar to identify new trends and to create innovative products that will really stand out.

Last year one of our stand outs was an impressive chocolate dessert that melted to reveal a delicious hidden centre. For this Christmas we've taken this a step further and developed a range of stunning, centre-piece desserts that are sure to be a talking point at the table.

Helping our customers

Our award-winning Free From range continues to grow and it's crucial that we ensure our Christmas treats continue to suit all dietary requirements.

We introduced a Free From Selection Box last Christmas that was a huge hit with customers and now we're welcoming more high-quality festive products to the range including a Free From Christmas Cake Kit, whereby kids can create their own edible Christmas jumper.

Bringing back heritage turkey

As many of us will serve a succulent roast turkey as a centrepiece on Christmas Day we wanted to offer customers the chance to serve up one of the most delicious and rare varieties.

We worked with one of our award-winning farmers in East Anglia to bring back a breed of premium heritage variety that had not been commercially sold in the UK for more than 70 years. The Narragansett turkey, which was bred by crossing old English breeds together was selected because of its unique, flavoursome taste and is now a customer favourite.

Little helps

We know Christmas can be a stressful time from preparing the festive feast to buying presents and decorating the tree. So when we are developing products we keep the customer top of mind and think how the product can help them.

Take our delicious party food range for instance which has been developed so it all cooks at the same temperature, allowing customers to spend more time with their guests and less time in the kitchen.

I'm always really excited when the Christmas products start to arrive in store and I can't wait to hear feedback from customers and to learn what will be the must-have products. It might be hard to believe this in July but we are already starting to plan for Christmas 2018 and think how we can bring new ideas to the table.