Leading ready-to-drink brand WKD has unveiled a seasonal campaign which celebrates some of the most important people there are at this time of year: mates.
Under the witty theme of Merry ChristMATES, the brand is embarking on a huge social media campaign destined to help people celebrate their friendships and reconnect with mates, to make this Christmas one to remember.
The humorous campaign includes a comprehensive series of light-hearted competitions and easy-to-enter online activities offering festive prizes to both the entrant and their best mates.
From matching WKD Christmas jumpers to cosy bobble-hats to branded Christmas stockings, entrants can bag all manner of seasonal merchandise for themselves – and for their mates!
As part of the campaign, Chris Taylor, social media influencer and previous contestant of Love Island, will reprise his role as brand ambassador to bring some carefully curated content to his 1.1 million followers.
This will build on Taylor’s success this summer sharing the love about all things to do with WKD’s sponsorship association with Love Island. In his own inimitable style, he is enlisting the help of his friends to demonstrate just how much mates mean to him. The tongue-in-cheek series of videos will be released throughout December.
In addition, two contestants from this year’s series of Love Island – Brad McClelland and Dale Mehmet – have been lined up to create fun footage which will showcase some very special WKD Christmas cocktails.
Alison Gray, head of brand - WKD at SHS Drinks, said: “Last year, WKD consumers got to spend some enforced quality time at Christmas with their close family only. Memorable and different as that will have been, we know that fans of WKD like nothing more than to be with their mates to make the absolute most of the festive season. Our humorous Merry ChristMATES campaign will provide both fun content and festive prizes for WKD consumers to share with their mates.
“To have enlisted Chris, Dale and Brad to support our festive campaign is the icing on the Christmas cake and builds further on our successful Love Island association.”
Faustino, distributed by Amber Beverage Group UK, is the largest vineyard owner in Rioja with a long commitment to the traditional style of the region’s wines. With over 160 years of family winemaking history, Faustino’s wealth of knowledge makes it the leader in Gran Reserva wines in the Rioja region. With its exceptional quality and taste – Faustino continues to perform well in the UK retail market, and volume sales have increased by +13 per cent since 2022.
Elevated affordability
Affordability remains a key concern for many this Christmas, as 53 per cent of consumers worry about how they will afford presents. However, 55 per cent of consumers are also willing to pay full price for important gifts, meaning stocking products that resonate with consumers’ gifting needs will be essential.
This is the perfect time for retailers to stock premium wines at a price point that is still accessible and good value for money, as consumers continue to buy less, but better-quality wines, not only for personal consumption, but for gifting hosting and gifting loved ones.
For example, Faustino I Gran Reserva – the flagship from Bodegas Faustino – is a quality wine at an accessible price point of £18. Celebrating its 60th vintage this year, it is the leading Rioja Gran Reserva in export markets and available in more than 140 countries.
It is complex and elegant, with fruity and spicy notes, pairing well with medium-aged cheese used for creating festive charcuterie boards.
A Rosé-coloured Christmas
Whilst most consumers have traditionally opted for red and sparkling wines at Christmas, 56 per cent of drinkers consider Rosé suitable for drinking all year round including the festive season. Rosé is ideal for the social gatherings that take place around Christmas and New Year. Faustino has enhanced the consumer experience of its VII Rosado with new packaging that includes food pairing suggestions, such as fish, traditionally eaten on Christmas Eve. This caters to the 70 per cent of millennials who seek wines that complement their culinary preferences.
The conscious Christmas consumer
This Christmas, consumers are predicted to be more mindful of their buying habits, with almost half intending to buy from sustainable brands and 21 per cent willing to spend more on them.
Consumers looking for more sustainable gifting options could reach for a bottle of Faustino, as its rebranded labels are made of 100 per cent recyclable materials and the V range has changed from a matte bottle to a clear bottle, resulting in lower CO2 output – making it particularly appealing to the 63 per cent of Millennials who say they are concerned about climate change.
In the hubbub that builds before Christmas, it’s easy to understand how an out-of-touch person might momentarily have lost sight of the fact that January 4 is National Spaghetti Day.
In an age of countless fancy twirled & tubed pasta shapes, its reassuring to know that it’s the straight-talking, thin lined spaghetti that retains top status throughout the globe with especially high sales currently being registered in China, Canada Japan, North America and Germany.
In total, 18m tonnes of spaghetti is consumed globally every year!
A new organic pasta offering from Realfoods by Organico originates from a small batch producer in Bari Puglia where "slow" is the name of the game, whether it's the slow proving of the dough or the extra time drying; taking time plays a pivotal role in producing a superior product.
Realfoods by Organico uses best-in-class durum wheat and pure spring water, not to mention old-school bronze plates from times gone by (the finest traditional pasta is extruded through dies—perforated bronze plates that both cut and shape). But it’s not rushing that creates the real point of difference versus rapidly extruding, mass market, conveyor-belt peers.
Spaghetti, as any well briefed pasta aficionado will explain, derives from the word "Spago" which means twine or string. Whilst many Sicilians will claim that spaghetti is a home-grown delicacy, there’s a growing body of evidence which suggests spaghetti is actually an "Arab-inspired" food introduced by traders to the Sicilian shores, who were keen to enjoy the manifold benefits of an easily stored dried food that could sustain them as they travelled the arduous Silk Road to China (which also lays claim to the primal noodle).
So, when the last slice of turkey has been polished off and the cranberry sauce and mince pies are nothing more than a distant memory, it might be wise to ensure some Organico pasta is in the larder, maybe even some Organico Arrabbiata, Vegan Bolognese or Puttanesca sauces.
Inspired by Spotify Wrapped and a Year in Monzo, retailer Haypp has revealed what a year of spending on vapes looked like for Brits in 2024. From the most popular flavours to the most purchased brands, this year’s data provides an interesting insight into the current vape market.
The sales data from Haypp reveals the importance of flavours in encouraging smokers to switch from cigarettes to less harmful alternatives.The data shows that fruit flavours, in particular, were far more popular than flavours such as tobacco or menthol.
With over 7,000 different vape flavours available in the UK, Pineapple Ice by Lost Mary came out as the favourite of the year, with six per cent of sales coming from this product. Watermelon by Elf Bar is the second most popular vape flavour, with 3.7 per cent of customers opting for the fruit-flavoured vape. Elf Bar’s Mad Blue completes the top three, with 3.1 per cent of vapers choosing the fruit flavour.
Top 10 most loved vape products in 2024 were:
Lost Mary 20mg 600 Pineapple Ice
Elf Bar 20mg 600 Watermelon
Elf Bar 20mg 600 Mad Blue
Lost Mary 20mg 600 Strawberry Ice
Elf Bar 20mg 600 Snoow Tobacco
Lost Mary 20mg 600 Menthol
Elf Bar 20mg 600 Blueberry Raspberry
Lost Mary 20mg 600 Blueberry Sour Raspberry
Elf Bar 20mg 600 Cherry Cola
Elf Bar 20mg 600 Strawberry Raspberry Cherry Ice
Making alternative nicotine products more attractive to adult nicotine users through flavours is vital to reducing smoking rates and smoking related deaths in the UK. However, the availability of a wide variety of flavours must be balanced with preventing youth access to vapes. With this in mind, Haypp does not stock flavours which could potentially appeal to underage vape users, for example candy or energy drink flavours.
When it came to brands, the UK certainly favoured the household names, with Elf Bar and Lost Mary dominating market share (38.7 per cent and 29.5 per cent respectively). The next favourite, Vuse, made the top three with a 13 per cent market share.
“The data revealed a clear favourite when it comes to vape brands, but with so many flavours available to vape users, it was no surprise to see more of a split result here," said Haypp's Markus Lindblad. "It’s also interesting to see that, generally, Brits steer away from tobacco flavoured vapes and instead find exotic fruit flavours like pineapple and watermelon the most appealing. With just two per cent opting for the menthol flavour, it’s clear that alternative flavours are important for many who have taken the decision to switch from cigarettes to vapes.
Research from our insights department shows that quitters usually start off with a tobacco flavoured vape, but after a while, they move on to other flavours, especially fruity ones. Smokers, as they move away from cigarettes, also want to move away from the taste of tobacco. This is why flavours are such an important part of the decision to switch and stay off cigarettes for many people and also why it is so crucial to take a sensible, balanced approach to flavours in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. Banning flavours may have an unintended consequence of reducing the number of people using vapes to quit cigarettes and make some people switch back to smoking.”
Mediterranean Aperitivo, a three-year EU-funded project focusing on high-quality ingredients for this modern ritual from Italy and Greece, is celebrating the success of its integrated campaign. The activity aims to raise awareness among consumers, bartenders and restauranteurs of the quality of four much-loved products with European Geographical Indication,that together make up the Mediterranean Aperitivo experience including:
Vermouth di Torino PGIis an aromatised wine with a heritage and provenance going back to the foot of the Italian alps over two centuries ago
Pecorino Toscano’s PDO seal guarantees it is only made in the designated areas, with sheep’s milk from Tuscany and neighbouring areas in Viterbo, Lazio, Perugia and Terni in Umbria
Costa d’Amalfi PGI Lemons are grown in an area of 1,000 acres on the Amalfi Coast. renowned for their quality and provenance
Olives from Greece are an integral part of the Mediterranean diet.
Speaking after Mediterranean Aperitivo’s press event in London last month, attended by food and drink writers, Roberto Bava, President of Consorzio del Vermouth di Torino, said: “Mediterranean people are well experienced at enjoying life to the full, and a Mediterranean Aperitivo, with a superb cocktail and delicious food, is perfect for a night in or out with friends. Here in the UK, consumers increasingly recognise the value of PDO and PGI-certified products, and this integrated campaign has focused on highlighting everything these quality European food and drink products have to offer to consumers and importantly, bartenders and restauranteurs.”
Over the campaign period, exports to the UK of Pecorino Toscano PDO cheese rose from €118,860,13 in 2021 to €456,647,06 in 2023, while Costa d’Amalfi PGI Lemons increased from €53,649.34 in 2021 to €438,069.06 in 2024. Olives from Greece went from €26,905,904 for 2021 to an impressive €35,364,729 in 2022. Exports fell between 2022 and 2023, due to a decline in production because of weather conditions, causing a shortage of supply, but not demand, as shown by olive exports hitting €23,003,660 in the first three months of 2024. As a result of the campaign and its activities, supported by industry ambassadors, Vermouth di Torino continues to prove itself as key ingredient on menus across the country, with many bartenders and restauranteurs experimenting with new usages in cocktails and an "aperitif for anytime".
The growth in UK sales of Mediterranean Aperitivo ingredients during this three-year campaign is testament to its effectiveness, with campaign activations including educational seminars for professionals and participation in numerous industry activities and celebrations. While also confirming the growing Mediterranean Aperitivo trend for consumers, who are continuing to seek out premium experiences to enjoy these ingredients at home or in out of home settings.
Baking brand Betty Crocker has launched its latest seasonal treat in celebration of the festive period: the Cookies For Santa cookie kit.
Designed to capture the magic of Christmas with eye-catching packaging and seasonal sprinkles, the kit will appeal to shoppers looking for an easy and enjoyable home baking experience.
Available with a classic vanilla flavour icing, The Cookies For Santa kit delivers Betty Crocker’s trusted taste and quality in festive packaging guaranteed to grab attention in the seasonal aisles. Each kit produces 12 delicious cookies, offering great value for money along with a memorable family activity across the holiday period.
Betty Crocker is supporting the SKU with a £100,000 gross media value campaign, including paid social and in-store activity, to maximise brand visibility during the holidays – a key period for home baking.
“Our Cookies For Santa kit is a perfect choice for families of all ages to try across the festive period, delivering some delicious fun for budding home bakers across the UK,” JP Del Carmen, head of snacks and baking UK at General Mills, said.
“Seasonally relevant products are always a hit with shoppers looking to get into the festive spirit – and our latest kit is sure to draw demand with its great value, trusted quality and eye-catching, Christmas packaging!”
Betty Crocker Cookies For Santa Kit is available now in One Stop stores, alongside Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, and Co-Op. RRP: £3.00