The festive product pipelines for 2026 are officially open, offering a clear window into how major confectionery brands plan to capture consumer spend, drive category growth, and target untapped opportunities.

With early rollouts hitting shelves as early as late summer, key players like Mars Wrigley, Terry’s, Biscoff, and Mondelēz International are signalling major trends for the upcoming holiday season.

Key takeaways from the 2026 Christmas line-ups

• Targeting untapped demographics: brands are moving beyond traditional broad-brush holiday marketing by creating products aimed at specific segments, such as male gifters or white chocolate enthusiasts.
• Early-season activation: rather than concentrating marketing in the final fortnight of December, brands are pushing displays and stock out early to capture early-bird shoppers.
• High-profile flavour collaborations: cross-brand partnerships and fan-favourite flavour mashups continue to dominate, driving high incremental value across self-eat and gifting occasions.

Brand spotlights: what’s driving the season

Mars Wrigley: expanding reach and early windows

Mars Wrigley is expanding its seasonal portfolio for Christmas 2026 with three targeted launches designed to broaden consumer appeal across the festive trading period. The strategy focuses heavily on early-window execution and audience expansion:

1. Crispy M&M’s Mini Santas: extending last year’s debut with a small sharing bag format alongside single self-eat options to capture early seasonal buyers.
2. The Snickers & Friends Selection Box: addressing a distinct gap in the market, this launch targets male gifters — a demographic traditionally under-indexed in selection box formats — using a Snickers-led gifting proposition.
3. Maltesers White Box: marking the brand’s second entry into everyday boxed confectionery, aimed squarely at under-35s who over-index in white chocolate.

As Steve Waters, seasonal senior brand manager at Mars Wrigley, explains: “Christmas remains a calendar highlight for many, and consumers will invest in creating memorable occasions. Our launches have been designed to add excitement to the fixture, combining affordable indulgence with trusted flavours and formats to meet the needs of today’s value-conscious shoppers.”

Terry’s: gearing up for record-breaking scale

Terry’s is taking aim at its biggest festive season yet, building on a prior year where it significantly outpaced the wider market with 22% value growth. The brand is rolling out a massive 330g Chocolate Orange XL tablet (RRP: £5.00) designed for main Christmas gifting, alongside the highly anticipated return of the White Chocolate Orange (145g RRP: £2.50) after a four-year hiatus.

Mimi Williams, senior brand manager at Terry’s, notes: “The Terry’s Chocolate Orange is a symbol of festive joy and a firm stocking filler favourite. Our new lines will offer even more ways to gift Terry’s over the festive season. The XL tablet offers Terry’s lovers a bigger Christmas present for under the tree and our White Chocolate Orange is finally making a return (by popular demand)! These exciting innovations will help Terry’s deliver its biggest Christmas yet.”

Biscoff & Mondelēz: festive shapes and mashups

Biscoff is leaning into seasonal novelty by introducing limited-edition festive biscuit shapes — including reindeers, snowmen, and Santas — available in both original and chocolate-coated variants.

Reflecting on the festive spirit, a Biscoff spokesperson shared: “It may only be August, but we are already getting into the festive spirit at Biscoff. Our new seasonal biscuits are perfect for Christmas parties, family gatherings or simply to provide a pick-me-up on those cold winter days… All customers want for Christmas is Biscoff and we are thrilled that we now have a very special gift waiting for them on the shelves.”

Complementing this, Mondelēz International is capitalising on high-performing partnerships by launching Cadbury Dairy Milk Biscoff Filled Centres and Toblerone Biscoff Diamond Truffles, alongside returning fan favorites like Cadbury Puds and Oreo Gingerbread, securing a diverse mix of self-treat and gifting options across the retail aisle.