Waitrose reveals the UK’s top locations for festive feasting

Waitrose has uncovered the nation’s top spots for mince pie enthusiasts, those who can’t resist a slice of stollen, and the lebkuchen lovers who bring a touch of continental flair to the festive season. The results are in, and the festive feasting habits of the nation have been revealed:

Top 3 cities for mince pie enthusiasts: 

• Salisbury
• Abergavenny
• Southend

With over 16 million mince pies sold at Waitrose in 2023, it’s clear we’re a nation of mince pie lovers. This year, the Waitrose All Butter Mince Pies have been revealed as the most popular choice across all three cities, but locals in Abergavenny have been particularly loving the Waitrose No.1 Crumble Top Mince Pies with Cranberry & Orange, offering a vibrant burst of citrus to tantalise their taste buds. Meanwhile, down in Southend, there’s been a surge in demand for the trend-driven No.1 9 Mini Brown Butter Mince Pies with Cognac, as customers embrace a luxurious twist on the traditional treat, enjoying bite-sized mince pies laced with cognac. 

Top 3 cities for stollen scoffers: 

• Salisbury
• Cheltenham
• Saltash

Stollen and Salisbury are the perfect pairing, with Salisbury claiming the top spot for stollen lovers this Christmas. From the traditional Waitrose Christmas Stollen and Christmas 6 Stollen Slices, to indulging in delicious twists on the classic with our No.1 Amaretto and Brown Butter Stollen. However, it’s Saltash who have explored more innovative twists on the nostalgic treat, embracing dynamic culinary fusions, with the No.1 9 Golden Limoncello Stollen Bites proving most popular in this city. 

Top 3 cities for lebkuchen lovers:

• London, Oxford Street (John Lewis Foodhall)
• London, South Hampstead (John Barnes)
• Edinburgh (Morningside)

From one iconic capital to the next, it’s in the cities of London and Edinburgh where lebkuchen, the traditional German spiced cookie cherished during the Christmas season, is winning hearts the most. 

Our John Barnes store in South Hampstead has been going mad for our classic Waitrose Christmas Gingerbread Lebkuchen as well as the Christmas Lebkuchen Selection, delivering the ultimate taste of Christmas. 

Leyla Page, Seasonal Bakery Buyer at Waitrose comments: “It’s fascinating to see the festive feasting habits of the nation revealed – from Salisbury taking the top spot for mince pie and stollen enthusiasts to London Oxford Street’s Lebkuchen lovers. In the spirit of culinary adventure, it’s great to see customers embracing new flavours such as limoncello and cognac, as they become more adventurous in exploring innovative twists on traditional Christmas favourites.”

*Results based on sales data

Contact Details:

For more information please contact:
Charlie Rushforth – [email protected]

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Waitrose

Run by over 45,000 passionate Partners, Waitrose has been serving customers for 120 years and offers extraordinary products in our 315 shops and on Waitrose.com. Inspiring food discovery, our expert Partners run almost 800 specialist food service counters in store, where customers can shop a variety of the best quality meat, fresh fish, dry aged beef, sushi, as well as cheese. Our Beer, Wine and Spirits team features the largest number of Masters of Wine of any UK supermarket and we sell nearly 3,000 different wines, beers, ciders, spirits as well as no and low drinks in our shops, on Waitrose.com and Waitrose Cellar. We are committed to selling products which have been responsibly sourced, grown using the very best sustainable farming methods, some of which are grown or trialled on our very own farm, the Leckford Estate.  In 2024, Waitrose was granted the Royal Warrant of Appointment to be Grocers and Wine & Spirits Merchant to His Majesty King Charles III.