This November saw the launch of the new Waitrose & Partners Christmas advertising campaign, Too Good To Wait, with the first of a series of light-hearted Christmas adverts aired on TV.
The first advert, which aired earlier this month, depicts a Christmas concert where a pianist rushes through a rather speedy rendition of Jingle Bells as quickly as possible after learning that Heston from Waitrose Chocolate and Cherry Mince Pies would be served afterwards.
In light of this, Waitrose & Partners conducted research* into the nation's obsession with mince pies and results proved they really are 'Too Good To Wait' for.
When asked when they usually eat their first mince pie of the season, over one in ten will take their first bite over two months before Christmas Day – with people from Yorkshire being the most likely to eat a mince pie in October and those from Northern Ireland the least likely to tuck into a mince pie early. Over one in five of those surveyed will eat their first mince pie in November, just 4% will manage to hold out until Christmas Eve and only 3% until Christmas Day.
Looking at the amount of mince pies consumed, the average person will have already eaten 11 of the seasonal favourites by Christmas Day, while 18% eat between 11 and 30 and a further 5% have eaten up to 50 of the delicious mincemeat treats. When asked for the reasons behind breaking the tradition of eating a mince pie before Christmas Day, half of those surveyed said they love them and just can't wait, further verifying the nation's love affair with the baked treat.
A third of respondents said they eat them to get into the Christmas spirit, rising to 51% among the younger generation (18 – 24 year olds), and over a quarter take part in Christmas celebrations before Christmas Day.
It appears other festive treats also prove too much of a temptation to hold off from eating, with 25% of us tucking into a selection box of chocolates and 14% of us choosing Christmas pudding.
