It’s the UK’s fastest-growing traditional supermarket, but its impressive growth has sprouted from defying norms.
With hopes to top Christmas sales from previous years, the chain has introduced a number of new and innovative products to entice customers.
However, there’s one that might raise some eyebrows – a £7 M&S Collection nduja and ciabatta crumb baking burrata.
Talking in ITV’s Inside M&S at Christmas, which airs at 9pm on Wednesday, product developer Kathryn said: ‘We have to constantly innovate because it’s expected of us by our customers, but also because, unfortunately, we get copied a lot.’
Therefore, Kathryn put it to her team to devise an item that customers have never seen before, which sparked the idea of hot, baked burrata, which is an Italian cow’s milk cheese made from mozzarella and cream.
‘When I first heard about hot burrata my ears pricked up because we started hot cheese at M&S many, many years ago, and we sell a huge amount.
‘The two key ingredients in our hot burrata is our burrata, a delicious Italian cheese, and the other is nduja, which is a spicy sausage paste from Calabria. You put it into the oven, and you dip into it, it’s absolutely delicious.’
While their team was certain the product was tasty, they faced the challenge of winning over Italian suppliers with their hot new idea.
Marks and Spencer’s have gone against Italian tradition and have introduced a hot, baked burrata (pictured)
In August, food technologist Amy and product developer Penny flew to Puglia, Italy, to secure the ingredients, with just three months to go until December.
‘As far as I know, no Italian cooks their burrata, hopefully they won’t object and throw us out of Italy as a result,’ Penny said.
The pair met with food supplier Roberta, whose factory makes 400 thousand balls of the cheese each day.
While Roberta was baffled about the team’s idea to bake the cheese, she agreed to supply the amount of burrata necessary for the new product over the Christmas period.
Next, the team arranged the nduja and travelled to an organic farm that houses a specialty black pig, which grows at a slower rate that white pigs to ensure a leaner meat.
After securing each ingredient for the new dish, it was time for the moment of truth – having the Italian farmer try the unconventional take on a cheese that’s existed in Italy since the 1920s.
The a new £7 product is under M&S Collection, and includes nduja, a ciabatta crumb, and burrata
But the M&S team could breathe a sigh of relief when the farmer exclaimed ‘woah’, signalling that the cheese had his stamp of approval.
In addition to the hot cheese, the supermarket also introduced a fried chicken Christmas sandwich – a Christmas tradition in Japan – as well as animated packaging and white mulled wine.
The M&S team are hoping that a white wine version of the tipple will be a big hit with shoppers.
The supermarket chain is hoping to cash in on Britain’s changing taste in wine and the influence of German Christmas markets that have sprung up in dozens of UK towns and cities in recent years.
Maddie Love, a product developer at M&S Food, said she hoped that ‘its lighter, fruitier notes will appeal to those who prefer a more delicate flavour profile’.
Many within the industry believe Ms Love and her employees might have struck gold with this idea.
Amber Gardner, one of London’s top sommeliers and wine buyers, told The Guardian: ‘They don’t want to feel weighed down by heavy, oaky and often alcoholic reds – so they’re turning more and more to white wine.
‘As we all know, mulled wine can err on the side of sickly and cloying, so I reckon mulled wine is overdue a nouvelle vague! I can see a white version doing really well in the coming years.’
While it was the Romans who first started drinking spiced wine in winter, the concept becoming a Christmas tradition in Britain can be dated back to the Victorian era.
White mulled wine is in no means a new creation, but will certainly be a very modern phenomenon in the UK.
M&S product developer Rhys Cook (pictured) developed a new box of Christmas chocolates that moves
Roisin Clegg (pictured) developed the supermarket’s new Christmas sandwich, which includes fried chicken
The M&S product is inspired by the glühwein found at German and Austrian Christmas markets.
Berlin’s Weihnachtsmärkte are particularly renowned for white glühwein and flavoured varieties.
Britons have been introduced to the drink in recent years thanks to the growth in popularity of European-style Christmas markets.
Sommelier Honey Spencer believes this country’s desire for more white wine is due to our changing diet toward plant-based dishes and ferments which work better with the drink.
The restaurant owner also believes the white mulled wine will be used to keep alcohol on the table at Christmas parties.
Skin-contact wine, also known as orange wine, has also become incredibly popular in the last year – with sales of the product going up by 99 per cent in the UK in the last year.
Skin-contact refers to the amount of time when grape skins are in contact with the fruit juice during wine making.
Ms Spencer said: ‘The one consistent change is that people are drinking less alcohol, especially young people. Although I would add that a skin-contact mulled wine might be a more intuitive and reactive product to introduce as this really is the category in wine that is experiencing growth.’
It comes after Marks & Spencer unveiled their glittering Christmas advert for 2024 – featuring a Britain’s Got Talent star and sensational dance number.
The British supermarket has already released an advert for food featuring the return of Dawn French’s fairy from last year – and has now showcased offerings for clothing and home.
The 90-second advert, which features Skylar Blu from season 15 of Britain’s Got Talent, aims to tell the story of Christmas ‘through a child’s eyes’.
It shows Skylar bringing her family together in unexpected ways, and bringing the festive spirit into their home – all to the catchy backing track of ‘I Believe In Miracles’ by the Jackson Sisters.
At the start of the video, 10-year-old Skylar looks subdued as she sits among her family, with no prospect of snow.
After spotting a snow globe across the room and picking it up, something magical starts to happen as hundreds of baubles come cascading down the stairs.
The magic continues as she continues to turn it – and her entire home seems to become the snow globe, moving upside down.
Her family manage to defy gravity while performing a sensational dance number in the moving house, with snow whirling around the room after all.
By the end, everyone embodies the same infectious energy as the young girl, and, with her family they are having the time of their lives. The story ends with the title: ‘Christmas Starts Here’.
Skylar appeared on series 15 of BGT in 2022 when she was just seven with her impressive dancing skills.
Anna Braithwaite, M&S Clothing & Home Marketing Director said: ‘For many of our customers, Christmas is one of the biggest events in the calendar, a moment for the whole family to look forward to, to come together and create lasting memories.
‘The festive season instils a sense of hope, wonder and joy and this year, we’re taking a playful approach by adding a little fantasy to our Christmas campaign.
‘We have long been known to deliver the magic and sparkle of Christmas for our customers and this season, through our campaign, we’re showcasing the very best of M&S, with exceptional quality, stylish clothing and innovative, thoughtful and playful gifts – all at a great value.’
ITV’S Inside M&S at Christmas airs on Wednesday at 9pm
