As supply struggles to keep up with demand, Heinz came up with something that might help shoppers combat empty store shelves: Christmas dinner in a can.
Heinz’s limited edition Big Soup Christmas Dinner, released 11/1 on its UK website, contains “turkey, stuffing, chunky potatoes, brussels sprouts and even pigs in blankets.” Mmmm.
Logistical questions about how to stuff all that into a canned soup that’s still edible aside, there’s a larger problem. It sold out just hours after its release.
According to the Independent, Heinz only produced 500 cans of this abomination delicacy, and it seems consumers in the UK ate it up almost instantly (pun absolutely intended).
In a survey conducted for Heinz, 32 percent of respondents said they prefer the traditional turkey dinner over anything else for Christmas, with 42 percent indicating they’d eat it more often if it didn’t take so long to cook, and 36 percent saying they would, too, if it weren’t so expensive.
At £1.50 per can, Heinz solved for both the imminent turkey shortage and the cost factor. Good on them.
Now that the 500 lucky recipients have gobbled it all up, everyone else will have to wait until next year, as Heinz does not have plans to produce more product yet, and there’s no hint of this on Heinz’s US website.
As an American who studied abroad for a semester in London (and loved everything about it except the food), I’m cool with leaving this special treat for my friends across the pond.
We’ve still got SPAM over here, and that’s enough stomach-churning for one holiday season, thanks.