It’s no wonder stress levels soar as high as oven temperatures for mums tackling the Christmas Day turkey: a survey commissioned in the UK by Sainsbury’s suggests that festive chefs rarely get it right, ruining over 3.2 million turkeys – or £75million worth – a year. The UK consumes 5.4million turkeys a year, spending around £125million pounds. Over 60% of those surveyed will overcook their turkey just to be on the safe side and 76% will contact their mums for advice on... ...Read more »

Australia’s first RSPCA Approved turkey will be ready just in time for Christmas, with all of Coles’ Finest fresh turkeys bearing the welfare-friendly label this year. “Demand for higher welfare food has never been stronger and with turkey a staple for many Australian families at Christmas time the RSPCA has teamed up with Coles to provide a more ethical option for turkey lovers,” said RSPCA Australia CEO Heather Neil. Last year, Coles obtained FREPA (Free Range Egg and Poultry Australia)... ...Read more »

US conglomerate ConAgra Foods has joined forces with Mars Inc to launch a range of confectionery for the Christmas season. ConAgra’s Peter Pan peanut butter brand and Mars’ M&M’s Holiday milk chocolate candies have joined to create three products, the manufacturers announced yesterday (23 November). Holly Jolly Peanut Butter Cookies, Jingle Bell Balls and Holiday Magic Peanut Clusters will be promoted on Facebook and via 5m on-pack lid stickers for the Peter Pan brand. As part... ...Read more »

New research by Sainsbury’s released today, in the approach to Stir up Sunday, reveals that Christmas baking disasters are costing the nation £30 million a year. 1 in 4 of us will attempt to make a Christmas cake this year, with 2.9 million Brits making a cake so bad it will be destined for the bin – wasting on average £10 per attempt!Baking at home has never been more popular, with 20% of Brits admitting to baking more in 2010 than in 2009. But while we may enjoy baking, our attempts... ...Read more »

Coles is cutting the price of its free range eggs in a bid to help more customers afford the switch away from caged eggs. Prices on Coles Brand free range eggs will fall in all States from today with cuts of at least 18%. Coles also announced that it will phase out Coles Brand caged eggs by 2013. The move follows a clear message from customers that they want to buy free range eggs instead of caged eggs but are prevented from doing so because of the cost. Latest research shows that 95% of Coles customers... ...Read more »

UK retailer Sainsbury’s has launched its Christmas campaign featuring Jamie Oliver. Launched on Monday (15 November), the 60-second ‘perfect Christmas’ advert, aims to highlight the fact that Sainsbury’s “has everything viewers need for the perfect Christmas”. Aside from the main ad, the retailer will also be airing will be a series of shorter adverts focusing on Christmas products including several from the recently re-launched Taste the Difference range such... ...Read more »

The Sydney Fish Market has opened its doors on their annual 36-hour Seafood Marathon, with Sydneysiders flocking to the market to get their essential Christmas supplies. Sydneysiders are expected to buy, on average, almost 1,000 oysters, 93kg of Snapper and 83kg of prawns every minute. The marathon began at 5am today and concludes at 5pm on Christmas Eve. With over 80,000 shoppers expected to descend on the Sydney Fish Market during the event, Louise Nock, Marketing and Communications Manager for... ...Read more »

Retail industry body the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) said that after a year of patchy growth, retailers were optimistic of a ‘fair’ 2009 Christmas period with an expected year-on-year growth of 4.7 per cent, totalling $38.7 billion moving through the economy via retail sales. The largest spend is once again expected to be at food retailers, with forecasts for sales growth of 4.7% on last year despite low inflation. ARA Executive Director Russell Zimmerman said the current retail... ...Read more »

The possibility of conservative festive season spending will not have an impact on the food industry, according to market researchers IBISWorld, with supermarkets expected to be among the biggest winners. IBISWorld (Australia) General Manager, Robert Bryant, said his firm has forecast total retail spending during the month of December to reach $20.5 billion – softer growth of 5% when compared to Christmas sales of the past two years. “Christmas 2007 was perhaps the best performing period... ...Read more »

The UK Food Standards Agency warns that one in five UK traditional Christmas dinner lovers will risk food poisoning this year by eating old turkey leftovers. A FSA survey looked into the eating habits of UK consumers at Christmas and showed that 23% of people in Wales were most likely to keep turkey leftovers in the fridge for up to a week, way past the recommended two-day limit. While people in Scotland and the north east of England were the quickest to use up their turkey leftovers, those in the... ...Read more »