Chocolate Santas already on supermarket shelves
It’s starting to feel a lot like Christmas.
Christmas-themed treats have already been spotted on some supermarket shelves despite it only being September.
One Christchurch shopper spotted chocolate Santa Claus on the shelves of a Merivale Fresh Choice yesterday, a photo sent to the Herald showed.
A Progressive Enterprises spokeswoman confirmed seasonal treats were already available in its stores.
Progressive owns Fresh Choice as well as Countdown supermarkets.
In Greenlane, hundreds of chocolate Santas sold after hitting the shelves last week, she said.
“It’s not unusual to see chocolate Santas on shelves at this time of the year.
“We sell millions of chocolates in the lead up to Christmas and customers seem to love them no matter the time of year.
“We will start to roll out lots of our other Christmas products over the coming months as we need to stagger the process over several months.”
The decision was made for the same reason they sold hot cross buns in January — “some products people just love at any time of year”, the spokeswoman said.
Foodstuffs, which owns New World supermarkets, said Christmas stock didn’t get sent to their stores until mid-October.
“It’s then up to each store when they put it out on display. Some wait until November 1,” spokeswoman Catherine Reiss said.
In January last year, upset shoppers created a protest group on Facebook asking supermarkets to stop selling Easter treats so soon after Christmas.