The mince pies are in, but which shall reign supreme?
Christmas 2023 is almost upon us and the SDL Surveying 2023 Mince Pie Audit has now taken place – this season comes with an alteration to the ranking system.
The decision to reduce Mince Pie rankings from a Top 11 to a Top 10 has been carefully considered following a review of the time and waistline being expended on this annual event. This has also been further impacted by the cost of living crisis reducing the budget available to outlay. Also, a Top 10 sounds better than a Top 11.
The membership of the Top 10 was ascertained by a Nations League equivalent qualification process of which nobody understood the rules and concluded that the Greggs Mince Pie could no longer participate in this process.
The finalists are as follows:
Asda
Sainsbury’s
Lidl
Waitrose
M&S
Co-op
Aldi
Kipling
Morrisons
Tesco
A bit of background on the history of this regulated process, the Mince Pie audit, piloted in 2014, has recently had the following title winning pies:
- 2015 – Tesco Finest Mince Pie
- 2016 – Greggs Sweet Mince Pie
- 2017 – Joint Winners of Fortnum and Mason Mince Pie and Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference
- 2018 – Marks and Spencer The Collection
- 2019 – Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference
- 2020 – cancelled due to concerns over damaged covid infested tastebuds.
- 2021 – Waitrose All Butter
- 2022 – overlooked due to FIFA World Cup distractions
Yet again we have utilised the FASP model which has provided such a steadfast method of rating these pastries, carefully assessing the Filling, Appearance, Size, and Pastry quality of each of these seasonal goods.
The Pie Assessors (PA’s) have over 15,865 days of experience in tasting, with these annual necessities being their speciality, they are renowned with their colleagues, friends, and family for their exceptional mincing abilities.
The audit process has been in review starting from the summer of 2023 through the following Methods:
- A “blind” taste test: where the PA’s could see the mince pie but were unaware of the brand
- A “bulk” test: where the PA’s consumed all 10 brands of mince pies within a 1 hour time slot (not recommended to try at home)
- A standard test of consuming pies at leisure over a reasonable time frame
It is now our pleasure to provide you with the overdue, long-awaited, and much anticipated official results for 2023:
| Ranking | Retailer | Brand | Price | Quantity | Appearance /size | Pastry | Filling | Score | Price per Pie |
| 1 | Waitrose | All Butter | £2.50 | 6 | 9.0 | 7.7 | 7.3 | 7.8 | £0.42 |
| 2 | Sainsburys | Taste The Difference | £2.75 | 6 | 6.7 | 7.7 | 8.0 | 7.6 | £0.46 |
| 3 | Kipling | Standard | £2.25 | 6 | 7.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.5 | £0.38 |
| 4 | Asda | Extra Special | £2.75 | 6 | 5.7 | 8.0 | 7.3 | 7.3 | £0.46 |
| 5 | Tesco | Finest | £3.00 | 6 | 5.7 | 7.3 | 7.7 | 7.1 | £0.50 |
| 6 | Morrisons | The Best | £2.50 | 6 | 6.3 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 6.9 | £0.42 |
| 7 | Aldi | Specially Selected | £2.19 | 6 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | £0.37 |
| 8 | Marks and Spencer | The Collection | £3.50 | 6 | 5.7 | 6.3 | 7.3 | 6.6 | £0.58 |
| 9 | Coop | Irresitible | £2.75 | 6 | 6.3 | 6.0 | 5.3 | 5.8 | £0.46 |
| DQ | Lidl | Deluxe | £1.49 | 6 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 6.0 | 6.4 | £0.25 |
| Total Cost: | £25.68 | Average | 7.0 | £0.43 |
The results table show that our assessors do not mince about with their assessments, and we have a clear new leader for 2023 – Waitrose’s All Butter Mince Pies. Not only are the pastries delicious, the time and effort put into the presentation is something to behold.
Waitrose topped the table in 2021 and had previously finished second in 2018, third in 2015/2016/2017/2019, and have consistently demonstrated that they are a Champions League contender!
Retailing in at 42ppp (pence per pie) they are in fact, slightly less than the average cost per pie. However, what is worth noting is that this pie has had the biggest carbon footprint due to the difficulty in obtaining a pack of these mince-based beasts, Waitrose having a lesser density of stores across the UK.
In 2021, LIDL Deluxe received a Red Audit for consistent poor performances and this year they were formally disqualified for retailing and vending Out Of Date Mince Pies – disgusting in both the taste of their mince pies and their behaviour!
We have noticed that the price of a mince pie has remained steady since and has not greatly increased in line with inflation or cost of living figures. It was anticipated that with Brexit, Covid, and the two ongoing wars, that the supply of our pies may have pushed the prices up or resulted in a limited availability, but no activity of this nature was experienced during the audit and the conditions that existed during the audit.
Economic and financial volatility in the market could mean that the value of the mince pies may change in the very short term.
Pie areas considered are gross external (GEA) in accordance with our client’s requirements.
We hope that you will consider the above table and data when selecting the Mince Pie you will be sharing with your loved ones (and the Mother In Law) on Christmas Day!