The past few months seem to have been a never-ending tale of economic doom and gloom and analysts are forecasting that the worst is yet to come.

As I have mentioned before in my comment column, I have been feeling the pinch, just like everyone else, and I am worried about what the future holds. But I, like millions of others I am quite sure, will set my worries aside for a few days at least over the festive season. I absolutely love Christmas, and have done since I was a little girl, and I am determined that this Christmas is going to be just as good as all the rest.

OK, between us, my family has agreed that we do need to be a lot more circumspect in our gifts to one another and that one small but meaningful present each is quite enough; the hard part for me (as always) will be sticking to my guns, as I love giving presents, even very boring practical ones; last year, one of my gifts to my sister was a new wheelbarrow for mucking out her horse’s stable! She liked it so much she kept in the house for ages and used it to muck out her office instead!

However, one part of Christmas we will not compromise on is food and I expect the same can probably be said for many families this year, which is good news for the grocery industry. And, of course, festive feasting is about a lot more than just Christmas dinner on the big day itself, with family and friends visiting over the holidays, there are lots of occasions for food indulgence, from snack foods with drinks through family suppers to table-groaning feasts, meaning food and drink retailers are less likely to be hit by a cut-back in consumer spending than their non-food counterparts.

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