Supermarket giant Morrisons is embracing the festive season remarkably early, with shelves at one of their branches already brimming with Christmas delights. Nevertheless, there’s one glaring issue.
Customers were left gobsmacked by the displays at Morrisons in Eastbourne, East Sussex, on September 3, as children returned to their autumn school terms. Yuletide treats – featuring mince pies and cakes, plus advent calendars – were available for purchase at the supermarket branch, leaving shoppers utterly bewildered. The aisles at this Morrisons store were filled with seasonal fare 16 weeks ahead of Christmas, yet there’s a significant snag: several of the mince pies carry best-before dates in October, reports the Mirror.
This indicates the festive goodies will go off well before the holiday period begins. Packets of Morrisons’ six own-label mince pies were discovered on the Eastbourne store’s shelves bearing best-before dates of October 24.
Arranged in substantial stacks, each six-pack of mince pies is priced at £1.50 at the East Sussex branch. One shopper named Yasmin tells us: “It’s the first week of September. I haven’t even packed away my summer clothes, and suddenly I’m being force-fed mince pies with a sell-by date before Halloween. At this rate, we’ll be carving turkeys instead of pumpkins.”
A £3.50 rich and fruity Christmas cake bar on display would need to be eaten by Boxing Day.
Apart from the mince pies and Christmas cake bar on offer – shoppers can also get their hands on Lindt advent calendars and Christmas fruit cakes for £8.50 each.
An iced Christmas cake infused with brandy is being retailed too, as reported by What’s The Jam.
Sixteen mini gingerbread people will set you back £12.
Galaxy, Dairy Milk, and Malteser advent calendars are also available already, as well as Santa-shaped chocolate.
This is not the first instance of Morrisons Christmas goodies being sold months before the festive season that has been brought to light.
On Sunday, August 17, a Midland shopper shared his shock at finding mince pies on sale at the Morrisons in Solihull.
The customer shared photos showing stacks of the sugary festive treats available in two types at the store.
He said he was “shocked” at seeing the season’s first mince pies on sale, particularly during a weekend when temperatures soared to 25C.
“It was shocking, Christmas seems to come earlier every year and these pies were on sale in sweltering heat,” said the shopper, as he reflected, “It was such a strange sight – I had to take a picture.”
At the Solihull branch, both shortcrust and puff pastry versions were on offer, with a pack of six shortcrust pastries priced at £1.50 and puff pastry selling for £1. Despite his initial surprise, the customer confessed he ended up purchasing a pack for his family, but made it clear he wasn’t planning to start getting ready for the festive season just yet.
Morrisons has been contacted for a response.