‘The Great Roastie Ruse’ reaches homes across Belfast this Christmas
More than 50% of people will buy ready-to-cook roasties for their Christmas dinner this year
A roast potato ruse is unfolding this Christmas across Belfast, as new research reveals more than half of people will serve ready-to-cook roast potatoes with their festive dinner instead of making them from scratch.
A study from Nanna Tate shows 53% of UK adults buy their roast potatoes ready prepared for Christmas. The trend is primarily being driven by Gen Zers with 70% set to choose ready-to-cook roasties over scratch cooking them this year, compared with just 30% of over 65s.
46% of those who’ve served ready prepared roasties admit that they have passed them off as homemade, while for the Gen Z respondents it was 73%.
Just under half (49%) of the people opting for prepared wouldn’t feel guilty doing so, with reasons for choosing not to scratch cook including, lack of oven space, having too many people to cook for (18%) and not being able to cook them properly (22%).
The time factor is another motivator, with over a quarter (29%) saying Christmas dinner takes them two to three hours to cook and over one in ten confess that preparations begin more than 24 hours in advance.
Despite the workload, the UK’s love of roasties at Christmas still remains strong with 89% choosing roast potatoes as their favourite festive potato, with 39% of us choosing to enjoy mash, 14% will add chips and 7% will opt for a jacket potato as part of their festive dinner.
Lucia Washbrook, at Nanna Tate, said: “Brits care about making Christmas dinner special, but they also want to enjoy the day. The survey shows that prepared roast potatoes help people manage the meal without losing out on potential precious moments with family while also enjoying a flavoursome meal they expect.
“Guests will focus on how something tastes and not whether every element was made from scratch, so people feel confident choosing options that save time while still delivering on quality.”
Nanna Tate continues to champion the UK’s love of potatoes through fresh and prepared products including Super Crunch Roasties that make festive cooking easier while delivering the crisp, golden roast potatoes Brits look forward to each year.