The cost of M&S xmas food

[babyguffingtonstrikesagain]

I can't believe it! A beef wellington for 4-6 people for £60??? I know that for lots of people M&S is their go-to for xmas food but that's crazy right?

Well, I personally wouldn’t pay it but I enjoy cooking and don’t really eat premise stuff so I would much rather prep that myself.

I’ve got a hamper coming from the butcher for £60 and in it I’ll get:
5lb turkey crown
Beef brisket joint
Gammon joint
Pork joint
Pigs in blankets
Sausage meat
Streaky bacon
Pork pie

So much better value for money to me!

Those are all quite cheap cuts of meat and not prepared so no I'm not too shocked at the difference in price. I agree it's expensive but I don't find it particularly shocking

I just had a look. I don’t think it’s crazily expensive. Their stuff looks beautiful. I might copy some of their ideas.

It's a lot of money but not a for for what it is. A large whole piece of beef fillet is about £50 and then there's the fiddling to put it together.

As a confident cook I would make it and make it better for £55 but I don't think the cost is unreasonable.

Would be interesting to see a breakdown as some of the specific ingredients in the beef wellington are quite expensive, for instance if you are using porcini mushrooms...

Much more expensive than cooking from scratch.
But if it is good quality and delicious I don't think it is too bad value....
Beef Wellington is a premier sort of meal - expensive cut of meat and lots of prep involved. If I was having the equivalent in a restaurant I'd expect to pay a lot more than £15. Obviously it's not a restaurant, but still doesn't seem too bad.
Restaurant meals cost more than posh ready meals, posh ready meals cost more than cooking from scratch. I suppose if people want to pay it they will, but if you think it's too expensive then don't!

Oh yes, totally agree! Much cheaper cuts of meat but to me, I’d rather eat things I’ve made than a pretty prepared beef Wellington.

I’d rather buy a piece of fillet beef from the butcher for £45-£50 and make it myself...would end up being a fairly similar price but I know that it’s not full of unnecessary ingredients.

It's beef wellington, its going to be expensive. I think it's a fair price fr what it is. Even the beef on it's own could be £30-40 depending where you get it from.

@MrsR87 you aren't comparing like for like. Brisket / pork / bacon etc comparably cheap compared to beef fillet.

@babyguffingtonstrikesagain

I can't believe it! A beef wellington for 4-6 people for £60??? I know that for lots of people M&S is their go-to for xmas food but that's crazy right?

M&S is well known for costing more, I'm not sure why you'd be surprised.

I've done the 'M&S Christmas' before lazy We got a lovely turkey crown (two of us), pigs in blankets, pre prepared parsnips, carrots, brussels with bacon, and obviously mince pies and extra thick brandy cream. Probably a couple of other bits I've forgotten about.

The crown was amazing
The pigs in blankets I couldn't tell the difference that would justify the price
The veg was great in that you could shove it in the oven, no peeling or mess or cleanup
The mince pies and cream are a must, I won't buy them anywhere else.

I think there's an element of it being 'expected' that prices will be high there, especially for meat. Ion't think I'd go as far as to buy a beef wellington or joint there unless it had extra stuff that would save me a job (i.e. stuffing and the skin pre prepared with herbs etc). £60 is a lot. Donald Russell do one the same size for £55, but they are guaranteed to be outstanding and if I had to choose what would be more likely to be worth the price, I'd go for DR every time.

This is the first year our Christmas food won’t be from M&S. I idly picked up Morrisons Christmas food brochure and it looks comparable to M&S at far keener prices, particularly the pre prepared veg.

The only things that will come from M&S this year are the luxury mince pies and brandy cream, both of which will be picked up the week before to avoid the circle of hell.

Not really the point, but beef wellingtons are a disgusting waste of fillet steak. Anything wrapped in pastry is just a sneeze away from a Pukka steak pie.

@MrsR87

Oh yes, totally agree! Much cheaper cuts of meat but to me, I’d rather eat things I’ve made than a pretty prepared beef Wellington.

I’d rather buy a piece of fillet beef from the butcher for £45-£50 and make it myself...would end up being a fairly similar price but I know that it’s not full of unnecessary ingredients.

If you see the post above yours, I’ve already acknowledged this. I’m just not a fan of preprepared food and would never pay that much for something premise. I could get the piece of locally sourced beef from the same butcher for around £15-20 cheaper and make it myself. That’s just my preference. Plus, there’s no way I would get all that stuff on the list I’m getting from M and S for £60, which was relating to the overall idea in the OP that M and S food is expensive.

I had fillet steak and chips at a pub last night for £27 so it's probably about right.

I bought a beef fillet to make Wellington for 6 a couple of weeks ago - it cost me £80 🤷‍♀️

I'm not surprised it's that price, it's horses for courses. Some people spend months thinking about Christmas day lunch and will happily spend that, others won't. It's like most things in life surely?

I expect to pay around £30 for a fillet steak in a restaurant. At our local farm shop we pay around £40 for a piece of fillet to feed 4 of us. So I think £60 to feed up to 6 is pretty reasonable.

I think the beef Wellington used to be £75. Expensive to some cheap to others.

It’s £15 each (it will never serve more than four unless you eat like a bird). Which I don’t think is too bad.

We switched last year from M&S to Morrison's and will be doing the same this year. We were really impressed.

I watched the M&S Christmas food advert last night and honestly didn't fancy one thing. What are they doing that everyone finds so wonderful?

Not really the point, but beef wellingtons are a disgusting waste of fillet steak. Anything wrapped in pastry is just a sneeze away from a Pukka steak pie. I feel like that.

Last time I bought a fillet for a dinner party it was £88!! I was too embarrassed to say anything to the butcher so just paid and took it home. It was one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten tbf. So £60 for a prepared wellington to feed 6 seems completely reasonable.

A few years ago did the lot from M&S and the veg was massively disappointing- carrots were very weird tastings - same with parsnips and three Brussels were inedible.
I usually buy a few bits from there - but will never do the veg again.

Seems about right to me. I would happily pay this.

I think £60 for a beef Wellington that feeds 6 is really reasonable. It's a beef fillet, you pay that for the fillet alone before you add in all of the other ingredients and the time saved with messing around with the pastry etc
I get my xmas food from M&S every year and have never been disappointed with the meat.