Cost of M & S Christmas food

A friend of mine told me the beef Wellington was nearly £200!!! Don't think so!!

It’s not compulsory to purchase food from M & S, it’s a personal choice.

I will/do not shop in Tesco, Asda, Morrisons or Lidl, my choice.

I shop in Aldi, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and M & S depending where I am. Most fruit & veg comes from local Farm Shop as does some meat from their own animals, the rest from local butcher’s.

You pay the money and make your choice

£200 for beef wellington a friend told me 🤦

This year we have just the two of us so we are not going to bother much .
Will get a few bits in but have decided to make a chilli the day before and will have on Christmas day , no tree & trimmings either .
It can pass us by this year .

Usedtobeblonde

Being nosy after reading this thread I googled the Christmas food from M&S and noted the very expensive boeuf en croute, £195,is by Tom Kerridge.
I used to like his cookery programmes until I saw the cost of eating in his restaurants.
No wonder he can afford his fabulous home.
I wonder how much M&as are paying him to put his name to there food and recipes.

It is a lot, I agree.
But ...... if you're someone who can't cook for yourself but wants something nice, I can see that people would buy it.
Also if you divide it between 6 - 8 people and compare it with the cost of eating out in an a decent restaurant on Christmas Day, it isn't too bad.
The bit of beef alone would probably cost £100, you've got to pay for the other ingredients, plus the preparation, the packaging - not forgetting the marketing etc.

All their food prices have gone up, so it’s no surprise to me.

I buy the odd ready meals. Sometimes with the yellow sticker on. But not much else as too expensive.

Desdemona

I think you're probably right as I'm always intrigued at the similarity of the packaging - all the same information just with the stores different colouring (i.e. dark green for M&S, red for Sainsbury's, bright green for Waitrose etc)

glammagran

£195 for M&S beef wellington to feed six people anyone?

Is that the Australian recipe with extra mushrooms?

They charge those prices because they know some people will pay them.

Probably not as much as they're charging the customers for it.

I tend to shopat sainsbury's or Asda but recently thought I'd try M&S through Ocado. I tend to buy the same things so have a good idea of the full cost of my shopping, obviously a few things were different but mostly it was like for like.

It cost £148! The same shop in sainsbury's is around £80, slightly cheaper in Asda.
Based on their normal food costing nearly twice as much I can only imagine I'd need a second mortgage to pay for my Christmas food from there.

I used to buy my turkey crown from M and S. I always have a houseful on Christmas Day. I couple of years ago I changed to a Lidl one at half the price without telling any of the guests. Lots of them commented on how lovely and moist the turkey was! It was just as tasty as the Marks one.

Being nosy after reading this thread I googled the Christmas food from M&S and noted the very expensive boeuf en croute, £195,is by Tom Kerridge.
I used to like his cookery programmes until I saw the cost of eating in his restaurants.
No wonder he can afford his fabulous home.
I wonder how much M&as are paying him to put his name to there food and recipes.

If people buy them then M&S will charge extortionate prices! I think if you’re paying that you should probably be going to your local butcher? Not help the shareholders of corporates!

And, if there's nothing left, there should be more stock coming in for New Year anyway, Grannynannywanny

Yes it’s well worth a try Allira if you have the time on Christmas Eve late afternoon. I’ve found that the shop isn’t overly busy at that time as most folk have done their shopping and retreated. Although it might be this year now I’ve spilled the beans on Gransnet 😆

Why worry about ultra expensive ready made supermarket meals? Just don't buy them. Home made food is always better. Share the prparation and clear up.

Doesn't have to be fancy. My favourite bits of Christmas dinner include the home made bread sauce, stuffings, cranberry sauce, pigs in blankets, veg.

Put the carols on. Home made decorations and crackers; silly hats jokes and games. Those very old stockings filled with the very traditional "gifts".

When we were young hard up parents these were very basic indeed; every child's stocking toe held an orange, a new toothbrush and a chocolate gold coin and a pound coin. Which the "children" would be dreadfully upset not to find in their stockings now they are middle aged professional high earners. I know for certain, mine will contain a packet of plastic plant labels from youngest son. The first Christmas present he ever chose and bought when he was about 6, bursting with of excitement because he had thought of it all by himself and "I know you're going to love it Mum".
And every Christmas since.

i know food has gone up in price but they are ridiculous. doesn't some of their festive food have a celebrity chef on it

Sainsbury’s had half price lamb leg joints on Sunday. Good to freeze for the festive season dear Gransnetters 😊

Desdemona

Desdemona

The food is still made by the same minimum wage people as other supermarkets, just there is a slightly different recipe and a tiny bit more spent on ingredients.

I should add a caveat here, in that I don't work for M&S but from what I have gathered from the media all the big supermarkets use similar/the same supply chains for their food offerings.

They do, but they are not the same. Factories have separate production lines for different customers. The idea that all supermarkets sell the same (non-branded) products is a myth, as is the idea that branded and supermarket products are the same. (I'm not saying they are better or worse, but they are not identical).

The increase certainly isn't because they're paying for more staff to man the tills. They'll be expecting customers to stack the shelves next!

I'm making my own beef, carrot and mushroom pie as we speak. I will make my own pastry [contains egg yolk, iced water, butter and plain flour} and bake it for half an hour. I wonder how much it would cost in the shops?

So many Christmas foods bought from M & S and Waitrose have been disappointing. I have gone back to making everything myself in early December and freezing it. I like free range turkey from Aldi and use every scrap, including the carcass for stock.

My local M&S (food only) has stopped online collection so I'll be saving money this year !

And, if there's nothing left, there should be more stock coming in for New Year anyway, Grannynannywanny

Grannynannywanny

On Christmas Eve in recent years I’ve dropped into our local M&S food hall to find bargains galore during the last 2 hours of business. All their remaining party food reduced by 75%.

Last year on Christmas Eve, shortly before the shop closed for 2 days, I bought a £95 turkey crown for £15. There were piles of them. It was dated Boxing Day. I froze it for a few days and cooked it for the family on New Year’s Day.

It’s not a good strategy if it’s something you are relying on for Christmas dinner but I’ve found it a great way to stock up on treats that would normally be beyond my budget.

I might do that as I'll be cooking after Christmas 🤞