Asda says its Christmas collection is all about “trusted comfort” and convenience that can “create a little theatre at the table” - all underlined with a heavy dose of nostalgia.
One innovation it has launched this year is an easy-carve six-bird roast, which it claims is an industry first. The mega meat fest contains chicken, turkey, duck and pheasant, with a stuffing made of partridge, pigeon and fruit, compacted to ensure it won’t fall to bits during carving, and which comes in a foil tray for extra convenience (rsp: TBC). Other turkey alternatives include a venison wellington with a cherry stuffing from its Extra Special sausage supplier Finnebrogue Venison (rsp: £20), as well as an Extra Special lightly smoked side of salmon with orange, thyme and pink peppercorns (rsp: £8).
For the more traditional market it is extending its Butcher’s Selection roast-in-a-bag to include a stuffed, basted and bacon-topped turkey crown (rsp: TBC), which it says will make Christmas easier. “Offering convenience with quality gives mums greater confidence to cook Christmas dinner,” the buyer said. And this year all the Extra Special turkeys are corn-fed.
With smoked salmon one of its biggest footfall drivers, this year it has upped the ante with a new Bucks Fizz smoked salmon with orange zest (rsp: £3) from The Edinburgh Salmon Company Scottish, and improved the whisky smoked salmon, new last year, by switching to single malt whisky barrel chips as part of the smoking process. This gives a deeper flavour, the supplier says.
It is also going big on the growing trend for charcuterie, introducing a whole Serrano ham, complete with stand (rsp: £4), and an Extra Special Iberico meat platter, comprising Iberico ham, lomo and chorizo slices, for a more convenient (if less theatrical) effect. Charcuterie also features in the new range of baked cheese ‘hotties’ - camembert in a glazed pot with herb and charcuterie toppings, along with four new premium gifting sets containing Wyke Farm Extra mature cheddar, chutney and pumpkin and sesame seed flatbreads with either ale, cider (rsp: £5) red or white wine (rsp: £10).
In the hope of emulating last year’s Christmas crumpet Twitter storm, it has brought out snowmen-shaped crumpets (rsp: £1 for pack of 6) as well as Chosen By You snowmen cake pops kit (rsp: £3) and a Rocky Road House Kit (rsp: £3). More sophisticated cake offerings include. And there’s a two-tier Christmas cake (“very on trend”), a mulled wine glazed cheesecake, and a Patisserie Valerie-inspired chilled ultimate chocolate gateaux - which has a chocolate collar and serves 16 - under the Chosen By You label (rsp: £4). The 20 new lines in party food include a Christmas tree-shaped garlic tear & share bread, a trio of pub grub pies, and Extra Special Wyke Farm soufflés that comes with a sachet of spicy onion and ale chutney.
Star product: Bucks Fizz smoked salmon.
Verdict: Good breadth of choice - 750 seasonal lines, 345 of them new - and a combination of interesting products at premium and mid-tier prices.
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