October 26, 2026 – Christmas remains a key innovation occasion, with brands leaning on festive traditions, flavors, and indulgent experiences to drive new product launches. Yet, the flavors themselves are changing little. Instead, novelty is shifting to where those familiar flavors appear, how they are packaged, and when they reach the shelf. Innova’s Trending in Christmas Launches – Global report explores how these shifts can serve as a roadmap for brands looking to refresh their holiday offerings.
Why are Christmas Flavors Barely Changing?
Warm spices, creamy notes, and chocolate are strongly associated with Christmas, reinforcing the appeal of familiar, comforting flavors. Milk chocolate, gingerbread, and hazelnut lead festive launches and hold their position from year to year with milk chocolate accounting for 7% of new Christmas-themed food and beverage launches. Growth comes instead from smaller flavors, like pistachio, where a limited edition can be tried with little risk.
Innova’s Christmas food trends research shows that brands are also increasingly borrowing dessert and confectionery cues from the rest of the year, since they read as premium without feeling unfamiliar. Flavors gaining traction on social media could follow the same path. According to Innova’s Flavor Genius, mentions of fudge brownie, maple and pecan, and pumpkin spice are rising, fitting alongside the dessert, nut, and spice flavors at the core of festive treats. Sour cherry can also offer a familiar route into sour, highlighting how familiar, festive flavors give brands a safe base, and emerging ones add the novelty.
Where are Brands Taking These Familiar Flavors?
Christmas launches increasingly draw on traditional festive foods, but rather than changing the flavors, brands are moving them into new places. Confectionery and bakery hold two-thirds of Christmas food and beverage launches, yet with these categories largely saturated, new launches there tend to replace rather than add. Growth comes instead from categories where the tradition was always present, but the branded product was not, such as the Christmas roast and the festive hot drink. Christmas food trends indicate that savory snacks are also taking festive cues, signaling Christmas by contrast rather than copying desserts. In Poland, for example, Lay’s Cheese and Cranberry Flavored Potato Chips keep the chip savory and let the cranberry signal the season. For brands outside traditional festive categories, this opens a route into Christmas without competing directly with confectionery.
How are Packaging and Timing Extending the Season?
Beyond flavors and festive cues, brands are increasingly selling the unwrapping, not just the taste. The advent calendar has expanded from chocolate to become a format across categories, from hot drinks to cheese and spirits, allowing brands without festive heritage to enter the season. In the UK, for example, The Crafty Herd launched a 25 Days of Cheese Advent Calendar. In gifting, the pack often does the selling, as the buyer judges the vessel and the story rather than the taste. Festive packaging, such as reusable tins, collectible containers, and novelty shapes add gifting value, while earlier shelf dates have also begun to stretch the Christmas season to five months.
Where Will Christmas Novelty Go Next?
Looking ahead, keepsake tins, reusable containers, and collectible packs can extend a product’s life well beyond the holiday, while countdown and advent formats are set to spread further into categories with no seasonal connection. Hosting kits and multi-product bundles can turn festive moments into broader consumption occasions. On flavor, patisserie, nut, and caramel cues can signal premium value without added cost, and local festive profiles can travel beyond their home markets to give global ranges a fresh seasonal story.
This article is based on Innova’s Trending in Christmas Launches – Global report. This report is available to purchase or with an Innova Reports subscription. Reach out to learn more.