Mince pies top expat Xmas food fancy

A baffling culinary concoction for non-Brits, the humble mince pie is the foodstuff Brits crave most at Christmas

The estimated five million British expats set to spend Christmas away from Blighty this festive period have a hankering for good old-fashioned mince pies – if a recent survey from expat food website Expat Essentials is anything to go by.

According to the site, mince pies, British chocolates and traditional Christmas puddings are flying off the shelves (well, warehouse storeroom, but you get the point) like the proverbial hotcakes they are.

Also high up on the list of festive favourites British expats are craving this Christmas are turkey stuffing and Christmas crackers, complete with paper hats, awful jokes and those bafflingly ubiquitous mini toolkits…

And according to Bristol-based British Corner Shop, reports the Daily Telegraph, Brits abroad can’t get enough of comfort foods from their homeland. “Three products that are constantly battling it out for the top festive spot are Walkers mincemeat pies, Nestle Quality Street tins and Matthew Walker Christmas puddings,” said the online retailer’s Managing Director, Mark Callahan.

Over on Expat Essentials, two paragons of Britishness have combined to send their online orders into overdrive – Marks & Spencer Christmas cakes and puddings. Site spokeswoman Yvonne Mills told the Daily Telegraph: “We’ve noticed a definite shift towards quality brands such as Marks & Spencer, Tesco Finest and Waitrose goods. Customers like the better quality brands that they know and trust.”

Throughout the year, the site’s top-sellers are usually PG Tips tea bags, Branston Pickle, HP Sauce and Marmite. In the run-up to Christmas, these goods have been usurped by mince pies, Cadbury advent calendars and even Scottish whisky.

And while an increasing amount of demand for these kind of sites is being driven by non-Brits who, upon returning to their homeland after a stint in the UK, have developed something of a soft-spot for British produce, the biggest market remains Spain, where close to one million British expats reside.

Heathrow airport, meanwhile, has released details of just how popular British produce is with international travellers, revealing that 918 tonnes of UK foodstuffs were purchased at the airport in November and so far in December – equivalent to the weight of 464 London black cabs.

Luckily for those residing on the Costa del Sol, many British home comforts are easily available up and down the coast. And if you’re really in need of a quick Brit pick-me-up, then there’s always Gibraltar right on the doorstep.