Seasons greetings

According to Wikipedia, Christmas crackers are part of Christmas celebrations primarily in the UK, Ireland and Commonwealth countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. But apparently their origins are sweet related.

Pull a cracker this Christmas, in the UK at least, and it’s likely you will receive a set of mini screwdrivers, a paper party hat and a cheesy joke. However, according to a University of Leicester Professor, in Victorian times Christmas crackers had a different purpose – and were full to the brim with colourful sweets.

The idea was part of a marketing campaign by a London sweet maker called Tom Smith whose earlier attempts to sell candy that was attractively wrapped, as in France, had met with limited success. By placing sweets into tubes that could be pulled to create an exciting bang, Smith made Christmas crackers a surprise hit and they found their way onto dinner tables across the UK – and later throughout the world.

Traditions slowly evolve over time to form our current understanding of what makes the December period feel ‘Christmassy’, but confectionery still has a significant role to play in the celebrations.

The latest data from market and shopper intelligence firm IRI shows that on average value sales for the UK’s major supermarkets were down over the last four weeks to Christmas. Among the list of Christmas favourites, just one in five is growing while the rest are down on average by -8.4 per cent.

The 12 Christmas super-categories, which include crisps, snack, nuts and dates, shows that sales are down relative to last year, but that the rate of decline has slowed slightly. Festive favourites, such as Christmas cake are -11.4 per cent lower than a year ago. However, dates have helped swell the crisps, snacks and nuts sector into limited growth, having declined year on year.

So, overall, it’s good news for snack sales, but perhaps it’s also a sign that shoppers are becoming increasingly discerning. As they say, a little of what you fancy does you good! Enjoy… We’ll be back in the New Year…

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