The school holidays haven’t even fully wrapped up yet, but M&S has already revealed its Christmas food line-up for 2026. The retailer is bringing 300 new products to shelves this season, alongside 400 returning favourites, with the first items landing in stores from 2 September. There’s just one problem shoppers have already spotted before it’s even hit the shelves.
Shoppers say there’s simply too much pistachio.
Despite the range not officially launching yet, plenty of people are already voicing the same complaint online: there’s far too much pistachio on offer. The line-up includes multiple pistachio led products, from Pistachio Star Chocolate to new Pistachio Muddles, alongside salted blond chocolate pistachio bites, a Pistachio and Single Origin Chocolate Bombe, and pistachio bites tucked inside this year’s Big Daddy Advent Calendar.
The repetition hasn’t gone unnoticed. Comments online have ranged from asking the brand to ease off the pistachio altogether, to self-confessed pistachio lovers admitting even they think it’s becoming too much this year.
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The pistachio craze traces back to Dubai chocolate, a bar filled with crispy knafeh, pistachio cream and tahini spread, first launched by a UAE-based chocolatier back in 2021. It didn’t properly take off until 2023 though, after a viral video of an influencer trying it racked up well over 100 million views.
Since then, other brands have jumped on the trend with their own versions, including pistachio biscuits, chocolate bars, and flavoured spreads from various major names. Searches for pistachio on one major supermarket’s website reportedly jumped by nearly 800 per cent in spring 2025 compared to the previous year, and demand became so intense it actually contributed to a global pistachio shortage in April that same year. The trend hasn’t slowed since either, with pistachio flavoured drinks, protein bars, coffees and cakes now appearing across UK supermarket aisles more broadly.
Plenty of non-pistachio options are still on offer.
If pistachio isn’t your thing, there’s still plenty else in this year’s offerings to choose from. A festive twist on Percy Pig features sugar-coated piglets, gingerbread men, stars and Christmas trees, all made using real fruit juice.
Also new this year is a Malt Balls Selection box, combining milk, dark, white and blond chocolate coated malt balls, positioned as a direct rival to Maltesers. For biscuit fans, new tins include Spiced Gingerbread Biscuits packaged in a festive truck shaped tin, and a Chocolate Chunk Cookie tin featuring a lenticular naughty-or-nice elf design.
Familiar festive favourites are also making a comeback.
Alongside the new releases, several returning favourites are back for another year too. Playful Penguins, priced at £5, return with hand decorated milk chocolate penguins filled with blond chocolate ganache, designed for sharing, even if most people end up eating the lot themselves.
M&S’s gingerbread and white chocolate cookies are also making their festive return, priced at £3.25 for a pack of five. They’re the kind of cosy, low effort treat suited to a night in with a hot drink and a Christmas film, and previously ranked third out of seven in a taste test of the supermarket’s cookie range, beating several of its year-round staples in the process.
The full list of what’s launching from 2 September
The Original Gimme S’more Munch, £10
Pistachio Muddles, £10
Malt Balls Selection, £8
Big Mix Tin, £12
The Original Peanut Butter & Jelly Munch, £10
Collection 100% Extra Virgin Olive Oil Crisps with Lobster, £3.90
Belgian Milk Chocolate Coated Crispy Chilli Peanuts, £3
British Hand Cooked Aberdeen Angus Beef & Mustard Crisps, £1.80
The Big Daddy Advent Calendar, £12
Choc Mini Marks Advent Calendar, £12
85% Dark Chocolate Orangettes, £5
Playful Penguins, £5
Pistachio Star, £3
Chocolate Rodney the Reindeer Noses, £3.50
All Butter Plain & Chocolate Chip Shortbread Magical Projector, £10
Chocolate Chunk Cookie Lenticular Tin, £5
Spiced Gingerbread Biscuits, £6
Custard Cream Spread, £2.50
Collection Sticky Figgy Mustard, £5
Everything Sugar N Spice, £2
Pistachio and Single Origin Chocolate Bombe, £12
Gingerbread & White Chocolate Cookies (5pk), £3.25
Malt & Caramel Cookie Pie, £3.50
4 Rodney the Reindeer Pies, £3.50
Colin & Connie the Caterpillars Christmas Time, £2
Percy Pig Merry Percymas, £2
Percy Pig Festive Fun, £2
Love it or find it a touch premature, M&S’s Christmas range is officially on its way, pistachio overload included.
