In the UK, when it comes to Christmas there are several foods that are always bound to divide the nation.
Turkey is one of them, Brussels sprouts are another and then there’s the tub of chocolates – your family might either be a Quality Street household, a Roses household or a Heroes household.
Each year the Cadbury and Nestlé tubs cause a stir due to the size and price and already this month fans have been left fuming over a ‘rip off’ change to Quality Street as they’ve shrunk from 600g in 2024 to 550g and they cost as much as £7 in some supermarkets.
As such, some shoppers have been looking for alternatives for Christmas this year and an own-brand product from M&S is proving popular, with people claiming it feels more ‘magical’ than some of the other options out there.
The Big Mix from M&S costs £7 for a 650g carton or £12 for a huge 1.2kg tin and features a mix of 10 different sweets in colourful wrappers, suitable for vegetarians.
The selection includes Salted Caramel, Coffee Truffle, Hazelnut in Caramel, Cream Toffee, Milk Crème, Caramel Fudge, Strawberry Crème, Orange Crème, Biscuit in Caramel and a Butterscotch Éclair.
Both the box and tin are available to buy now on Ocado and shoppers have been raving about the products in the reviews and on social media.
A shopper known as littlepieces gave them a 5/5 rating, writing: ‘Best chocolate box for Christmas!
‘These are our favourite chocolate box at Christmas time for sharing with the family – the chocolate is nice and thick and lovely fillings. I’ve been buying these for a few years now instead of the other popular brands.’
Whirley Shirley agreed, saying: ‘Absolutely love this new mix of chocs with some different flavours to the norm. Coffee one a real joy, a nice milk chocolate covering too.’
While fussyshopper1 commented: ‘Great selection, better than the leading brands of chocolates that come in plastic tubs and tins.’
On Instagram, snaps of the chocolates were shared by @uknewestfoods and followers were quick to say they’d buy them over other chocolate brands ‘purely because they still have shiny wrappers’.
On X (formerly Twitter), the packaging was also a big selling point, and @chatswithem did not hold back her thoughts in a dramatic post.
She shared: ‘Nestlé and Cadburys, quick note… Everyone hates your new Roses and Quality Street plastic tubs and basic, plain, soul-destroying wrappers. Meanwhile M&S are seeing their Christmas chocolate tins literally fly off the shelves because they’ve stuck to the traditional metal tin and beautiful shiny wrappers that bring awe to little faces.
‘Those wonderful old tins of beautiful, bejewelled treats are literally part of so many childhood memories. And you’ve taken that wonder away from today’s little kids. Do us all a favour and put the magic back in the tin.’
Similarly, @Ajcts said: ‘Bought the M&S £12 alternative yesterday. At Christmas, I want sparkle and tins filled to the brim, not a half-filled plastic tub of paper drab wrappers.’
Quality Street famously ditched its iconic sweet wrappers for a paper version in 2023 in order to reduce plastic.
However, not everyone is a big fan of the M&S chocolates with some saying the flavour was ‘very sweet’, ‘sickly’ and just ‘ok’. So perhaps it’s only one to try if you’ve got a big sweet tooth!
This comes after M&S caused a stir with a pricey £195 dish they were selling for Christmas.
The retailer left shoppers absolutely flabbergasted by the price of a Beef Wellington they’d produced with Tom Kerridge this year, which has since sold out.
Described as a ‘whopper of a Wellington’, the dish serves six people and features portobello mushrooms, chicken mousse duxelles and a hint of black truffle parceled up inside an all-butter hot water crust pastry, served with a beef and red wine gravy.
Customers took to Reddit to vent about the price, branding it ‘insane’, ‘ridiculous’ and ‘stupid’.
In response, an M&S spokesperson told Metro: ‘The M&S Collection Tom Kerridge Beef Wellington has been a big hit with customers – it’s selling very well and we only have a few left on our Christmas Food To Order page.
‘Serving six people and weighing over 2kg, the hand-butchered British beef fillet is matured over 17 days and created as it would be in a restaurant – it’s the absolute best quality Wellington we’ve ever created.’
