Have you seen Lidl Bear yet?

 

Lidl GB's Christmas adverts are featuring Lidl Bear, this year’s most unlikely Christmas celebrity. But this adorable yet expressionless bear is like no other Christmas character, and it absolutely won’t be on sale in Lidl.

Lidl Bear’s story begins when a dad accidentally shrinks his Lidl jumper in the wash, and his young daughter has the ingenious idea of putting it on her teddy bear.

And, just like that, a star is born – finding fame in the aisles of Lidl before becoming the (expressionless) face of Lidl’s advertising campaign and experiencing the highs and lows of fame at Christmas time.

As the world around Lidl Bear goes crazy in its endeavours to make a little stuffed toy a celebrity, we ask ourselves: will Lidl Bear make it back home for Christmas with its family?

Claire Farrant, Marketing Director at Lidl GB, said: “What stands Lidl Bear apart from other Christmas characters is its hilarious, deadpan expression. By displaying no emotion it manages to create humour and deliver our message about what’s actually important this Christmas.

“You also won’t be seeing Lidl Bear for sale in any of our stores – because, in the face of unrealistic Christmas expectations and pressure, we know what really matters is being with the people we care about.”

In fact, rather than selling the character, Lidl Bear has instead been the inspiration for Lidl’s Christmas charitable drive - helping to ensure every child experiences the joy of a beloved toy this Christmas. Lidl Bear’s Toy Bank is a nationwide donation initiative, giving new or unwrapped toys and games to children across the UK through the Neighbourly community network. 

Peter de Roos, Chief Commercial Officer at Lidl GB, says of the campaign: “Instead of selling Lidl Bear, we’re asking everyone who can to spare a bear, and other toys, to give to those in need this Christmas. From Kevin to Percy and everything inbetween, all toys will be welcomed with open arms – because there’s room for everyone at the table this Christmas.”

Customers can drop off new and unopened toys and games, to be gifted to children that need support in their local area. Donations can be anything - from a small stocking filler to something bigger. Sought-after items include toys, games, books, puzzles, and arts and crafts, for a range of ages.

In addition, the supermarket has committed £250k for charities during the festive period – including a £125k donation for the toy bank initiative – and has also pledged to donate more meals than ever over the festive period. As part of the supermarket’s long-standing work within local communities, Lidl GB will also donate a selection of festive food items as part of its regular food donations. These will go to local charities and community groups, which - together with their food surplus programme - will equate to over 1 million meals.

www.lidl.co.uk.

Aldi's biggest Christmas ever as it's set to sell nearly 50 million mince pies

Aldi is set to sell nearly 50 million mince pies this Christmas as millions of shoppers flock to its stores amid the growing cost-of-living crisis.

The supermarket predicts it will also sell over 38 million pigs in blankets this festive season, in what will be Aldi’s biggest Christmas ever.

Giles Hurley, CEO, Aldi UK and Ireland, said: “Shoppers have started to think about Christmas even earlier this year.

“While it’s a wonderful time where families come together, there's no doubt many households are having to plan their spending over the festive period much more carefully, and many of those households are realising Aldi is the only place to shop for an amazing Christmas at an affordable price.

“The price gap between Aldi and the traditional, full price supermarkets is only widening, and millions of shoppers are switching to Aldi as a result of this.

“Our unbreakable promise to our customers is we will always offer the lowest prices of any supermarket, whether it’s a normal weekly shop or all they need for a fantastic Christmas celebration.”

Recent data from Kantar Worldpanel showed Aldi is the fastest-growing supermarket and 1.5 million new customers shopped at an Aldi store in the 12 weeks to 30th October.

According to consumer champion Which?, the traditional ‘Big Four’ supermarkets, Tesco, Morrisons, Asda and Sainsbury’s, are 16% more expensive than Aldi on a basket of 48 everyday grocery items.

Earlier this week Aldi also announced its plans to support local charities, foodbanks, and community groups across the UK this Christmas through its Emergency Winter Foodbank Fund.

The supermarket is donating £250,000 (that's a quarter of a million!) to help organisations as they prepare to face heightened demand upon their services and will also be introducing new signage in stores to help highlight to customers the most in demand items at foodbanks, as selected by the organisations themselves.

Aldi has already donated over 27 million meals to good causes since its partnership with Neighbourly began in 2019.

Charities and community groups interested in working with Aldi should contact Neighbourly at aldi@neighbourly.com.

Aldi announces new emergency foodbank fund to help support charities this Christmas

Aldi has issued a pledge to help support local charities, foodbanks, and community groups across the UK via its newly launched Emergency Winter Foodbank Fund this Christmas.

The supermarket’s Emergency Winter Foodbank Fund will see Aldi donate £250,000 to help organisations as they prepare to face heightened demand on their services this Christmas.

The fund is building on Aldi’s successful partnership with community engagement platform Neighbourly which enables all Aldi’s 980 UK stores to donate surplus food seven days a week, all year round.

Aldi will also be introducing new signage in stores this Christmas to help highlight to customers the most in demand items at their local foodbanks, as selected by the organisations themselves.

From early December, shoppers looking to donate to foodbanks should watch for the logo on shelves by certain items, like Baked Beans, Teabags and Toiletries, which can then be dropped off at the food donation points which are located near to Aldi’s checkouts.

Liz Fox, Corporate Responsibility Director at Aldi UK, said: “We know Christmas is already a particularly challenging time for many people, but this year is understandably going to be even tougher for lots of households.

“That’s why we’re more committed than ever to doing what we can to give back. We want to make food accessible for all and hope both our additional funding and donation drive will help to make a real difference for people."

Steve Butterworth, CEO of Neighbourly, added: “The cost-of-living is impacting communities up and down the country and the charities we support are expecting to see demand increase even further over the coming months.

“Without the support of the public and businesses such as Aldi we’d be unable to help those in need. Within our network there are many charities and community groups that will be able to put this funding to very good use, to support families that are struggling.”

Aldi’s latest commitment follows a recent survey of Neighbourly charities which revealed 72% will need more food items to help with increased demand this Christmas.

The items revealed to be most in-demand, and will be promoted in-store to help drive donations this Christmas, included cereal, rice and pasta, tinned food and toiletries.

Aldi is further supporting Neighbourly through its Christmas advert this year, by encouraging viewers who are able to help families in need to donate at aldi.co.uk/neighbourly. The supermarket has already donated over 27 million meals to good causes since its partnership with Neighbourly began in 2019.

Charities and community groups interested in working with Aldi should contact Neighbourly at aldi@neighbourly.com.

Salvation Army Christmas appeal

This Christmas the Salvation Army wants to reach out to the people who are suffering the most by bringing joy and hope into their lives, especially at Christmas time.

An officer said: "With the current cost-of-living crisis, thousands of people are expected to turn to The Salvation Army for help this winter. 

"In over 650 communities across the UK, we will be doing all we can for them, whatever their circumstances."

You can help by donating here https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/christmas-appeal?form=FUNJHYUFWKW.

For general information about the Salvation Army please visit https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk.

Help the Telegraph Newspaper help others this Christmas

The Telegraph’s Christmas Charity Appeal 2022 is supporting four charities for its annual fundraising campaign. 

The charities being supported by this year’s appeal are: Action for Children, Age UK, Macmillan Cancer Support and Royal British Legion Industries (RBLI). 

The appeal was launched on Saturday November 5 and will remain operating until January 2023. Donations can be made online https://telegraph.ctdonate.org/

The Telegraph’s annual Christmas Charity Appeal started in its current format back in 1986 and has raised almost £30 million for deserving charities since its launch.

Incidentally Telegraph readers have a long and honoured history of fundraising which included in 1915 raising funds for a monument for nurse Edith Cavell, which can still be found outside St Martin-in-the-Fields Church, just off Trafalgar Square. 

They also set up the Edith Cavell Trust to help nurses impacted by their work during times of war. war.

Whilst in 1916 during the First World War, Telegraph readers’ donations helped supply 3,000,000 rations of plum-puddings for British soldiers on Christmas Day.

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Christmas pudding banned in some homes as millions of Brits have no plans to serve it this year

The UK’s first ever Christmas pudding café opens today in a bid to ‘pud’ the dessert back on the menu this festive season.

31% of Brits hosting this Christmas have no plans to serve the traditional Christmas pudding, and one in five believe it’s heading for extinction within three years.

It comes as almost half (48%) of 16–26-year-olds say they don’t like it, yet 37% have never even tried it.

Ready for a change, 80% of the nation would love to see the classic dessert given a modern twist.

Opened yesterday Thursday 24th and today Friday 25th November, Sainsbury’s FREE Pud You Dare Café, gives guests the chance to try out modern and traditional versions of the Christmas pudding.

The traditional Christmas pudding could soon become a dessert of the past, as a third of Brits (31%) hosting this Christmas, that's over six million people, don't plan to serve it this Christmas. Once a firm  Christmas staple, the dessert is becoming less and less popular, with one in five claiming they have never tasted one, rising to over a third for Gen Z (37%).

What’s more, new research from Sainsbury’s revealed a further one in five Brits believe the Christmas pudding is heading for extinction and predict it will be gone within three years, on average. The decline comes as a quarter of Brits (36%) claim they dislike the taste.

Preferring more modern flavours, Gen Z heads up the extinction of the traditional pud, as almost half say they don’t like it (48%) and one in five have no plans to ever give it a try. Classic Christmas pudding rituals could also be forgotten within a generation as 57% of 16–26-year-olds didn’t know about flaming a Christmas pudding with brandy, and 70% are unaware it’s traditionally served with a coin. A massive 63% even think the mincemeat contains actual meat.

In a bid to put the pud back on the hot list and show the next generation of hosts what they’re missing out on, Sainsbury’s has opened the ‘Pud You Dare Café' the UK’s first ever café dedicated to the iconic Christmas dessert. 

This year, the supermarket revealed its brand-new twist on the classic, the Taste the Difference Caramelised Biscuit Pudding, a delicious take on the traditional, that’s drizzled with spiced caramel sauce and sprinkled with caramelised biscuit crumb. This comes as research reveals salted caramel is among the nation's favourite dessert flavours.

Pud You Dare visitors can enjoy the original and new variation of the Christmas classic for free, as the research revealed a whopping 80% of people agree they’d give it a try if it had a more modern twist.

It’s not just the Christmas pud that will be getting the modern treatment this Christmas. Of the Gen Z-ers hosting Christmas this year, a quarter (27%) plan to serve pizza, 18% are considering serving burgers or pasta, and 17% say they'd serve fish and chips. In fact, 31% say they'll refuse to serve traditional food this year.

Conversely, almost half of baby boomers say they'll firmly refuse to eat anything other than a traditional Christmas dinner, leading to a quarter of Brits admitting they've already disagreed with their families about who'll host this year (26%) as the nation’s Christmas eating habits become generationally split.  

Claire Hughes, Director of Product and Innovation at Sainsbury’s said: “Our insights revealed the past three years has seen the biggest shift in flavours favoured by the nation than during any other time. The Christmas pudding has slowly fallen from favour, but many of those who've written it off completely have never even tried it! We hope our café gives them the chance to change their minds.

“Although a Christmas pudding fan myself, I love embracing new flavours and it was lots of fun creating the Taste the Difference Caramelised Biscuit Pudding to appeal to a new generation. We hope that by introducing this modern take on the traditional pudding to our range, the love for this classic can be rekindled once more people have tried it.”

The free ‘Pud You Dare Café’ was open on Thursday 24th November from 12pm – 7pm, and today, Friday 25th November from 11am – 7pm, with Sainsbury’s donating £3 on behalf of each customer to Comic Relief to help tackle food poverty this winter. 

Those attending the café can enjoy the Taste the Difference 18 Month Matured Christmas Pudding, alongside the brand-new Taste the Difference Caramelised Biscuit Pudding with a choice of toppings for a personalised pud experience.

The new take on the traditional dessert features a fruity sponge to please every palate but with an innovative twist and a burst of new flavours. Vine fruits laced with a hint of brandy for a boozy hit are combined with a generous drizzle of spiced caramel sauce and caramelised biscuit crumbs to create a delicious fusion of traditional and modern tastes. The Caramelised Biscuit Pudding will also be on offer for £10 from Friday 25th November until Saturday 24th December, along with deals on other Christmas puddings in the Sainsbury’s range.

Giving the Christmas pudding the showstopping moment it deserves, Sainsbury’s launched its 2022 Christmas advert earlier this month, with the new Caramelised Biscuit Pudding taking centre stage. View the full ad here.

Any surplus food will be provided to Sainsbury’s long-term redistribution partner, FareShare, through their London delivery partner The Felix Project. Sainsbury’s and FareShare continue to work together as part of their shared mission to support communities with access to food.

www.sainsburys.com