The golden quarter is fast approaching, so suppliers are gifting operators with menu ideas and themed products for the festive season
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Hospitality’s busiest period is almost here, but while tills and bells may ring throughout Christmas, it can be difficult to satisfy customers’ demands while balancing the books.
Operators are not alone in fighting these challenges though, as the UK supply chain has vowed to support the industry with cost-saving tools and a selection of festive food launches to tempt diners through the door.
Bidfood is guiding operators on efficient menu planning with its Christmas Range Brochure, which features digital Christmas menu planners to help build profitable, portion-controlled festive menus using seasonal and cost-effective ingredients, as well as a selection of chef-curated, fully costed recipes that ensure portion control and minimal waste.
In addition, Bidfood’s culinary development team has created 12 Christmas recipes using its new products and which are available to watch as short recipe videos. ‘The 12 Bites of Christmas’ features a pulled turkey and caramelised onion sage puff pastry roll finished with cranberry and brie, and smoked salmon bruschetta topped with mascarpone, avocado, dill and lemon.
Joe Angliss, customer marketing controller at Bidfood, says: “Christmas is a crucial trading period for many operators, but it can also be one of the toughest. Our goal is to make it easier for our customers to plan ahead, stay profitable and deliver exceptional experiences to their guests without overextending their budgets.”
Bidfood’s Christmas selection
Booker’s vegetable tart
Start your planning now
Wholesaler Booker has launched a Christmas offer featuring 85 starters, mains, desserts, cheeses and accompaniments, all available for pre-order for the first time until 30 September. Example starters include scallop dish Coquilles St Jacques and a goat’s cheese log with edible flowers. Main centrepieces, such as festive lamb rollover, pork and fennel stuffed pork belly and a meat-free beetroot wellington, are teamed with on-trend desserts including pistachio semifreddo, chocolate torte and tiramisu.
“The key is to strike the right balance, offering traditional favourites and contemporary options with a creative twist”
Mark Suddaby, Booker’s director of trading for fresh foods, says: “We can deliver solutions and support as well as the products, all at flexible price points and with choices that are certain to delight diners. Early planning enables operators to be in a strong position to drive high footfall and demand and, in turn, maximise profits and deliver an enjoyable, successful Christmas dining experience for customers.”
Booker’s 2025 Christmas Guide contains inspiration, ingredients and menu ideas to help caterers and chefs through the festive season. The wholesaler says that pistachio is a key trend, and adds that offering vegetarian and meat-free options is crucial this year. “The key is to strike the right balance, offering traditional favourites and contemporary options with a creative twist that ensures a smooth service and a profitable, crowd-pleasing menu,” says Booker catering director Darren Bown.
Creed Foodservice Xmas tree mousse
Premier Foods’ Sharwoods sweet chilli chicken and hassleback potatoes
Add some Christmas sparkle
Creed Foodservice advises that operators should offer “clever formats and smart finishing touches that deliver the wow-factor without steep price tags”. The wholesaler recommends carefully-curated platters, which can push up spend per head, such as its Kitchen ’72 barbecue pork belly bites cooked in a rich barbecue marinade alongside mini skewers made with Kitchen ’72 diced chicken thigh in a garlic and herb marinade.
For alternatives to the traditional turkey, the supplier proposes confit duck legs served with triple-cooked chips and red cabbage with cranberries as a luxury option. Trimmings such as carrot and swede mash remain popular and support British growers while also reducing food miles.
The wholesaler predicted that cheesecakes will make a strong comeback, with pre-portioned options resulting in minimal waste. Toppings and garnishes such as berries or edible glitter can give a dish added sparkle too.
Premier Foods’ senior culinary advisor Louise Wagstaffe advocates using versatile and cost-effective ingredients to create standout dishes efficiently. “For example, our Bisto bouillon paste isn’t just for making stock, it can be used as a flavour-enhancing rub for roast vegetables, like we’ve done with our Bisto roast garlic and clementine carrots,” she says.
Incorporating global flavours into classic dishes is another tip. Wagstaffe says: “Sharwood’s Thai sweet chilli chicken dinner is the perfect example; it’s got the nostalgic feel of a roast chicken dinner, but packs a punch with bold, Asian-inspired flavours.”
Clawson Farm’s roasted heritage root vegetables with a Stilton crumb topping and honey drizzle
The Flava People’s Baileys Caramel Sauce
Say cheese
Cheese writer and educator Patrick McGuigan sees cheese as one of the most versatile and valuable categories for Christmas, with a trend for baked cheeses such as Mont d’Or PDO, Pont-l’Évêque PDO and Saint-Marcellin PGI from France.
“Cheeseboards also provide a real opportunity to showcase premium EU cheeses such as Gorgonzola PDO from Italy, Fourme d’Ambert PDO, one of France’s mildest blue cheeses, with a smooth, buttery texture, or Roquefort PDO, which is saltier and more intense, made from sheep’s milk and aged in natural caves,” he says.
Gorgonzola PDO
Clawson Farms managing director Bill Mathieson also waxed lyrical on cheeseboards: “Stilton is king of the cheeseboard and it wouldn’t be Christmas without it, yet there are so many great alternative uses for it. The resurgence of British blue cheese reveals that limited, traditional uses are making way for versatile and contemporary dishes.”
He adds: “Combining trends in one dish is a great way to garner interest; British fusion dishes work by merging British elements, such as territorial cheeses, with global cuisines for depth of flavour and menu novelty, for example Nigerian-style spiced beef suya with a Stilton dipping sauce. Or show support for British produce with roasted heritage root vegetables with a Stilton crumb topping and honey drizzle.”
Little extras
For a touch of indulgence to round off a Christmas menu, try offering a seasonal special:
The Flava People has Baileys- and Guinness-branded sauces: Baileys Caramel Sauce, Guinness Smoky Tomato Ketchup and Guinness Smoky BBQ Sauce.
Symphonie Pasquier’s L’Agrume Mandarine – Nougat Montélimar, combines almond sponge, Montélimar nougat, vanilla mousse and mandarin purée and is topped with mandarin slices.
Black Bee Honey’s Christmas Honey has notes of marzipan and is a single-origin honey made from rapeseed, hawthorn and plum blossom in Somerset, Yorkshire and Northamptonshire
Suppliers
Bidfood www.bidfood.co.uk
Black Bee Honey blackbeehoney.com
Booker www.booker.co.uk
Clawson Farms www.clawson.co.uk
Creed Foodservice about.creedfoodservice.co.uk
Premier Foods www.premierfoodservice.co.uk
Symphonie Pasquier www.symphoniepasquier.com/en
The EU enjoy-its-from-europe.campaign.europa.eu/united-kingdom/en
The Flava People theflavapeople.com
Photo: fornStudio/Shutterstock
Dining and Cooking