How to cater for the party season

For Speciality Food readers, Christmas party food offers an opportunity to do much more than fill the freezer or create a convenient buffet selection. Done well, it can become a high-value category built around discovery, premiumisation, provenance and, crucially, the complete entertaining occasion.

The message coming through from retailers and suppliers for Christmas 2026 is clear: shoppers still want the familiar favourites, but they increasingly expect more from them. They want better ingredients, more distinctive flavours, interesting provenance and products that deliver an element of theatre without requiring hours in the kitchen.

“I think we’re seeing a move away from the traditional idea of Christmas party food being lots of beige, fairly predictable buffet food,” begins Matt Hopkins of IND!E. “People still want indulgence at Christmas, but they’re becoming much more adventurous about where those flavours come from.”

That does not mean abandoning the classics. Instead, the opportunity for independents is to curate a party food range where familiar formats sit alongside products that offer something new.

Lewis Slaydon at Olives Et Al, shares: “More than ever, people want easy ways to entertain, and the right accessory helps them picture the occasion. The Olive Bowl makes a ritual of serving our olives, catching their extra virgin olive oil marinade for bread dipping or to use for cooking. A touch of theatre, a talking point.”

Familiarity with a twist

Booths’ festive sales data demonstrates the continuing strength of recognisable Christmas flavours. Its strongest party food performers across 2024 and 2025 included Duck Selection with Hoisin Dip, Brie & Cranberry Parcels, Lancashire Cheese & Plum Parcels, Vegetable Indian Selection, Chicken Bites with BBQ Dip, King Prawn Selection and Mini Beef & Horseradish Yorkshire Puddings.

“Our best performing party food is still very much built around familiar Christmas favourites,” says Martin Wolstenholme, product developer at Booths. Interestingly, there is no single party food style dominating. Customers are buying British classics alongside seafood, meat and globally inspired products. Indeed, they say, “Customers are becoming more adventurous, but without moving too far away from the traditional favourites.”

For independent retailers, that suggests a balanced approach to ranging. The core should provide reassurance, while a carefully chosen selection of more unusual products provides discovery. For example, in 2025 Booths saw particularly strong growth in Bang Bang Cauliflower, up 21%, Chicken Kebabs with Mango Dip, up 15%, and Mini Yorkshire Puddings, up 12% between 2024 and 2025.

“We wouldn’t necessarily say customers are moving away from meat or traditional products, as these are still some of our strongest sellers. It’s more that customers are looking for a bit more variety alongside the traditional favourites,” Martin explains.

That is an important distinction for retailers planning Christmas 2026. The opportunity is not necessarily to replace pigs in blankets, sausage rolls, cheese-based bites or other established favourites, but to surround them with products that provide extra culinary excitement.

The rise of grazing and global flavours

The way consumers entertain is helping to shape the party-food opportunity. Rather than serving one large meal, Christmas gatherings increasingly lend themselves to grazing, sharing and pick-and-mix occasions. “Sharing and grazing gives people the opportunity to put lots of different things on the table and let everyone pick and mix,” says Martin. “There also seems to be more willingness to bring different cuisines and flavours into the festive occasion.”

That creates space for retailers to build more eclectic ranges. For independents, this provides a useful merchandising principle: think in terms of a party table rather than a single category. For example, a customer buying mini pies might also need chutney, mustard, dipping sauce or crisps. Someone buying prawns may be interested in an aioli or chilli sauce. A cheeseboard can lead naturally into crackers, chutneys, nuts and drinks.

Make convenience feel premium

One of the biggest opportunities lies in products that deliver a premium experience without creating extra work. “The sweet spot is food that feels special but doesn’t require hours in the kitchen,” says Matt. “A really good product that can be served, shared or finished with one or two ingredients is incredibly appealing.”

This is particularly relevant to independent retailers because premium party food does not necessarily have to mean elaborate food. A product can command a premium because of its ingredients, provenance, production method, flavour profile, packaging or the story behind the producer. Two Farmers, for example, positions its crisps around farm-grown potatoes, hand-cooking and locally sourced ingredients.

“The perfect crisp starts life as part of a batch of superior potatoes, all grown on our farm. We then hand-cook on the premises and season the crisps using top-quality ingredients from local producers,” says owner Sean Mason.

For Christmas, the producer is also offering festive tins in 100g and 500g sizes. Mason says these “make brilliant gifts” while also working as serving pieces on the Christmas table. “While the crisps are available in environmentally friendly, fully compostable bags, these distinctive recyclable tins can be used for serving the crisps in too. They make great, showstopping centrepieces on any Christmas or Boxing Day table!”

That kind of multifunctionality is valuable to retailers because it gives shoppers another reason to trade up.

Flavour is becoming a bigger selling point

Condiments and sauces are another area where independents can add value to party-food purchases. Sauce Shop founders Pam and James Digva argue that condiments can transform familiar food while allowing guests to personalise what they eat. “You can put relatively familiar food at the centre of the table and let people dial the flavour up, down or in a completely different direction themselves,” they explain.

Their research suggests consumers increasingly regard condiments as “ready-made flavour builds”, with the balance of heat, sweetness, acidity and seasoning already developed. That makes them particularly useful for entertaining.

Honey Mustard BBQ can be paired with pigs in blankets or sausage rolls; Honey Sriracha can glaze salmon or be used with crispy popcorn chicken; Chipotle & Lime Aioli can put a smoky, citrusy twist on prawn cocktail; and Pineapple Habanero can complement pork. There are opportunities beyond food, too.

“Original Hot Sauce adds a kick to a Bloody Mary,” say the Digvas, while their sauces can be folded through hummus, drizzled over whipped Feta or served alongside cheese and crackers – making sauces an ideal cross-selling category rather than a standalone fixture.

Expectation is building around Christmas 2026

What distinguishes the fine food shopper right now is not necessarily a desire for ever-more complicated food, but greater expectations around what they buy. “Shoppers have become much more flavour literate,” say Pam and James. Exposure to restaurants, travel and social media has increased consumers’ familiarity with different cuisines, ingredients and techniques.

That means chilli, for example, is no longer simply about how hot a sauce is. “There’s still an appetite for heat, but increasingly it’s about the flavour of the chilli itself and what sits around it – fruitiness, acidity, sweetness, smoke and fermentation.”

The same applies to provenance and production. Shoppers are increasingly interested in why something tastes different and what makes it worth paying more for. “Real ingredients and quality matter,” Pam and James add, alongside the expectation that products deliver something shoppers may not have the ingredients, time or know-how to recreate themselves.

Vegetarian does not mean compromise

Vegetarian party food also has an opportunity to move beyond being a box-ticking exercise. Martin says that Booths is developing “vegetarian options that are indulgent and flavour-led”, rather than simply treating them as alternatives for people who do not eat meat.

For independent retailers, this means vegetarian products can be merchandised as exciting party choices in their own right, alongside meat, seafood and cheese rather than in a separate ‘special diets’ corner.

How to increase basket spend

Perhaps the biggest commercial opportunity is to stop thinking about party food as individual SKUs and start selling complete occasions. “Curation is probably the biggest opportunity,” says Matt. “Rather than selling individual products in isolation, help the customer build the occasion.”

“If someone buys a great cheese, show them the unusual chutney, cracker or condiment that goes with it. If they’re buying party snacks, introduce a premium dip or sauce. Build sharing selections, gifting combinations and easy ‘party table’ solutions.”

A customer might come in looking for crisps and leave with a selection of premium snacks, a dip, a sauce, cheese and crackers. Someone buying a few party bites could be shown a complementary condiment. A customer looking for a Christmas gift could be directed towards a festive tin of premium crisps alongside other entertaining treats.

Build discovery into the Christmas fixture

The other major opportunity is differentiation. “Anything that feels generic” is becoming less compelling, says Matt. “I don’t think consumers necessarily want to abandon the classics, but they increasingly want a better or more interesting version of them.” That could mean an unexpected flavour, a distinctive independent producer, unusual provenance or exceptional quality.

“The standard party-food selection with very little differentiation feels dated,” he says. “The opportunity is to take something recognisable and give people a reason to talk about it… whether that’s an unexpected flavour, a brilliant independent producer, interesting provenance or simply exceptional quality.”

For Christmas 2026, that points towards a party-food offering built around familiarity, discovery and convenience. The familiar products reassure shoppers. Discovery gives them a reason to browse and buy something extra. Convenience makes premium party food practical for busy hosts. And the strongest independent retail opportunity comes when all three work together.

According to Martin, “The opportunity is to evolve rather than reinvent Christmas by keeping the familiar favourites, but giving customers more choice, flavour and discovery.”

For fine food retailers, that is also a useful blueprint for growing the basket. Make the classics better, introduce shoppers to something they have not tried before, and show them how individual products can work together to create a complete Christmas occasion.

How to Sell

Offer a taste of discovery: While in previous years shoppers have stuck to the classics as their budgets tighten, this year they’re hungry to experiment despite financial concerns still being present – so offer twists on classics and world flavours alongside traditional options. 

Make it easy: Shoppers are often time-pushed at Christmas time, and it’s easy for party fare to fall down the priority list below the big events of Christmas dinner and Boxing Day lunch.

Group products together in ways that are celebratory and easy to understand with POS and social media marketing, and consider offering set priced bundles to tick convenient and budget-friendly boxes.

Master the upsell: With samples and staff discounts, your team can become more familiar with the products you stock and excited to share their findings with customers. Use this as an upselling tool alongside your usual marketing materials for an invaluable personal touch.