Bidfood shares 2023 Christmas predictions

To launch this year’s festive range, foodservice provider Bidfood is shining a light on the consumer demands shaping 2023, also detailing the year-long process that underpins the sector's run-up to Christmas. 

For the foodservice industry, Christmas preparations begin almost immediately after the previous year's celebrations end. From fresh suppliers to growers and producers, Christmas truly is a 12-month-long team effort.

"It's great to raise awareness of, and showcase, the hard work that goes into Christmas every year to make it the success that it is," says Vicky Tripp, campaign and brand manager at Bidfood. "Making sure everything is ready for December truly is a team effort industry-wide."

To support Bidfood in developing this year’s festive range, the wholesaler commissioned research to find out how consumer behaviours could drive decision-making when eating and drinking out-of-home this Christmas.

Cost of living

Despite another challenging year due to the cost of living crisis, 44% of consumers still plan to go out for food and drink at least once a week this festive season. In fact, with one in three stating that food and drink is typically their main way of socialising at this time of year, tapping into this will be essential.

Consumers love to enjoy a tipple as they catch up with friends and family at Christmas

Unsurprisingly, value for money is once again going to be a top priority for consumers when deciding where to eat out this year, with 57% of people labelling cost as the biggest factor. However, there can’t be a compromise on quality, as almost half (47%) say this is also high on their priority list when choosing where to dine out. 

In response to this, Bidfood has developed dishes that promise an affordable sense of luxury – including a slow-cooked short rib of beef with rich French onion gravy. On the sweeter side, Bidfood offers a sticky toffee Christmas pudding drizzled with toffee sauce.

Festive offerings

As well as value for money, consumers want to see variety on menus. With this in mind, operators would benefit from having a range of non-festive options to accompany the more traditional dishes.

Additionally, operators should be cautious not to discard meat-free options this Christmas. Although many associate this time of year with meaty dishes, a quarter of people would find a non-meat offering appealing. This stretches further than vegetarians and vegans, since sustainability- and health-conscious consumers have contributed to the meat reduction trend, making it important for operators to provide a strong meat-free offering too. Bidfood’s range taps into this trend with several vegan and vegetarian options, including the wild mushroom and confit onion tartlet, and the butternut squash, lentil, spinach and almond wellington.

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